The Battle of Lost Hearts
by Twiranux
Summary: In Izzy's opinion bad guys were either old, mutated, creepy, crazy or just all of the above. She never expected that she would be attracted to anybody remotely bad. That was until she met Loki, a powerful Asgardian god hell-bent on taking over Earth
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys! I saw the Avengers the other day and I fell in love with the movie and a certain character *Cough* Loki *Cough*. Anyway ever since then I've been itching to write a Fanfic for it.**

**The main character, Izzy, Is completely my own creation, everything else isnt therefore I dont own it...Yup thats it.**

**So this pretty much follows the movie storyline (But its tweaked to fit Izzy in) so if you havent seen the movie I'm giving you a heads up; THERE WILL BE SPOILERS! So if you dont want the movie to be ruined I'd advise you not to read this until you have seen it.**

**That being said I hope you do enjoy this story :)**

Chapter 1;

In Izzy's opinion bad guys were either old, mutated in some disturbing manner, creepy, crazy or just all of the above. Not that she could really comment much, the main 'bad guy's she'd met were her father's old college and right-hand man, Obadiah Stane, and Ivan Vanko. Either way, she'd never expected someone classed as evil to be . . . Attractive. What's worse she never expected that she, of all people, would be attracted to anybody remotely bad

That was until she met Loki, a powerful Asgardian god hell-bent on taking over and ruling Earth.

It all started with the Tesseract. She didn't know much about it but from what she'd gotten out of her father she assumed it was an energy source of unknown potential that had, somehow, activated and opened a portal through space which Loki came through. To Izzy it all sounded crazy, like something out of a book, but she knew better than that.  
Now she was sitting in S.H.I.E.L.D's Helicarrier waiting for her father, Tony Stark, AKA Iron Man and Steve Rogers, better known as Captain America, to arrive back from Germany where Loki had supposedly been sighted.

She sighed in frustration and began to pace, fiddling with the handle of her dagger that was strapped to her hip, around the small room she'd been given to stay in.  
She should be out there helping them fight. _I have special powers too_ she thought with a frown. It was true, she had what people would call 'super powers' she had the ability to manipulate the elements such as fire, ice, air etc. But no one but her father, and probably S.H.I.E.L.D, knew of them. Not only that; she had impressive skills with a blade.

She held her hand out, palm facing upwards, and focused. Within seconds a spark flared in her hand and grew into a small flame that sat in the palm of her hand, flickering happily as she watched it dance along her skin. A soft knock at her door made her quickly quench the fire by curling her hand into a fist; pretty much smothering it as the door slid open.

Natasha Romanoff, one of S.H.I.E.L.D's best agents, stood in the doorway expectantly. She was what every man thought a beautiful woman should look like; she had red shoulder-length hair that intensified her electric blue eyes, full red lips and a flawless face and she was wearing her typical black skin-tight uniform that hugged her perfect curves. Yes Izzy was jealous but she didn't show it, after all Natasha was nice enough.

"How can I help you Tash?" She asked as she stood up and stretched

She frowned at the nickname Izzy had come up with

"Your dad has arrived with Loki. I just thought I'd let you know"

_Loki? So they really did catch him_ she thought with a hint of surprise as she followed Natasha down a maze of hallways and rooms. No matter what anyone said, she would never cease to be amazed by the sheer size of the Helicarrier.

Natasha came to a halt outside of what looked like a laboratory and Izzy couldn't help but try to peek in through the glass windows. She wouldn't admit it but she was itching to see her dad again; no matter what she told herself she knew she'd missed him dearly. As is sensing her eagerness Natasha smiled to herself and quickly rapped on the metal door that slid open seconds later. Izzy practically bounded into the room after Tash and grinned when she saw Stark looking over plans of some sort, quietly she crept up behind him and looked over his shoulder; he wasn't looking over plans, he was attempting to hack into S.H.E.I.L.D's mainframe she noted with a smile

"Uh Tony, you seem to have a shadow"

Izzy glanced up to see another man that she hadn't noticed before. He kind of was young but his hair that was streaked with a few bits of grey told her he had a lot of stressin his life. But he smiled warmly at her and she returned it as her dad finally realized what he said.

"Hm? What's that?" He asked as his head shot up, whacking into Izzy's with a loud thump

"Ow!" She complained and clutched her head while Natasha burst into a fit of laughter

"Oh hey Kiddo" Stark said and grabbed her in a headlock, pulling her against his side

She squirmed desperately and tried to pull away from him but failed so she just stood their frowning in displeasure.

"So I'm assuming you're the infamous Izzy I heard a little bit about?" the other man asked again and walked towards them

I looked at him with confusion and shrugged.

"Yes Banner this is Izzy, my daughter, and Izzy this is Dr. Bruce Banner" her dad said and released her

"Oh! It's nice to meet you Mr Banner" she said and held out her hand

He smiled and grasped her hand in a quick handshake. She now knew the reason for his slightly greyed hair; Bruce Banner was the Hulk.

The moment Steve Rogers walked into the room it was obvious to her that her dad wasn't Captain America's biggest fan and that his feelings towards her dad seemed to be the same. Instinctively her hand went to the hilt of her dagger and she stepped a little closer to her dad.  
Rogers eyed her distastefully and she glared back in return, she could almost hear his thoughts; 'Great, another Stark to deal with'. Not long after Thor arrived, creating even more tension as he started talking about the Tesseract

Soon the tension in the small lab was getting too much for Izzy and she rushed from the room, her dad would be able to explain her odd behaviour to the other 'heroes'.

She found herself wondering aimlessly down the white-painted steel walls of deserted corridors. She smiled to herself and relaxed; allowing her powers to fill her. She could feel the odd skin-tight suit that appeared whenever she stopped holding her powers back materialise over her body. The suit was pure white but markings, kind of like tribal tattoos, would etch themselves onto the material depending on the powers she was using; like now when she used fire a bright orange flame design etched itself onto the suit. She grinned, she thought it was cool.

Absentmindedly she turned into the one of the doorways that had been left ajar and sat on the floor not far inside it. She twirled her dagger through her fingers and closed her eyes, enjoying the peaceful silence that surrounded her. _THIS is why I don't really like people, they make too much noise_ she though, with the exception of her dad and Pepper of course.

In fact the silence was so nice that she began to doze when a velvety voice shattered the silence

"That's probably not a good place to sleep"

Izzy's eyes snapped open and in seconds she'd snatched up her dagger, ignited a flame in her other hand and slid into a defensive crouch in the doorway ready for any attack.

"Well that was quite impressive" the voice chuckled from behind her

Slowly she turned around and her jaw dropped. The room beyond was a large circle with a kind of glass cage situated directly in the middle, a metal walkway surrounded the cage and a multitude of buttons and screens were sitting on raised platforms. But what shocked her most was the young man standing in the cage who was currently smirking at her. _How the heck did I miss this?_

"Who are you?" She asked wearily

"What was that? I couldn't hear you, maybe you should come closer" his charming voice called

Izzy frowned, she didn't really WANT to go any closer, but it was obvious that to get answers she would have to. Now a normal person would have walked away but not Izzy. Oh no she had her damned dad's stubbornness which meant she wouldn't just leave, at least not without answers.

Cautiously she approached the cage one small step at a time. As she got closer she could see that he was handsome; he looked to be in about his mid-twenties with jet black hair that reached his shoulders and curled slightly at the ends, deep sea-green eyes that sparkled mischievously, sharp angled facial features and quite an attractive smile.

"Ah yes, that's better" He grinned and eyed the fire and the knife in her hands "That's interesting"

For some crazy reason Izzy blushed, instantly defusing the fire and stashing her dagger back in its sheath

"It's nothing" She said quickly

He chuckled "It definitely looked like nothing"

She frowned at him

"You didn't answer my question"

"Ah yes" He smiled impishly "I highly doubt you'd like me if I told you"

"Your point? Why do you care if I like you or not?" She said annoyed at his avoidance to her questions

"I don't care. I just simply want someone to talk to"

"Well tell me your name and I'll talk to you"

He grinned and shook his head, sending his dark hair to flick around his face. A soft growl escaped Izzy's lips and he raised his eyebrow questioningly at her but the only answer her got was her plonking down on the metal walkway

"So tell me, what's a pretty girl like you sleeping in a hallway for?"

She blushed again and turned away slightly in a poor attempt to hide her embarrassment

"I didn't mean to, I just wanted to get away from my dad and his . . . Colleges who were fighting. And I was finally getting some sleep when YOU interrupted"

He smiled cheekily at her "I apologise ma'am"

She frowned in annoyance. She hated being addressed formally.

"Well tell ME, what's a pain like you sitting in a cage like this?"

Now it was his turn to frown

"I-I've done bad things"

"Obviously"

He cocked his head in confusion, as if he expected her to freak out, and smiled again. Izzy couldn't help but smile back; oddly enough she kind of liked this mysterious prisoner and he seemed to like her

She rested her hands on her knees and cupped her chin in her hands as she watched him sit down in front of her, they were inches away from each other and the only thing that separated them was the glass.

"I'm Izzy" She whispered without thinking

He smiled "Izzy? That's nice"

She smiled back and looked at him expectantly. His own smile faded as he opened his mouth to speak

"Izzy! What the hell are you doing?"

Izzy yelped and jumped in surprise at the sound of her father's voice. She turned and smiled sheepishly at him but flinched at the anger that was crystal clear on his face

"Get away from him. NOW!"

"Bu-But dad..."

Her words faded at the angry glare he shot her and she did as she was told.

"Do you have ANY idea who this is?"

Izzy shook her head; she'd never seen her father this angry before. Quickly she glanced at her friend; he'd slowly risen if the floor and was silently watching, annoyance flickered in his eyes when he glance at her dad, their eyes locked momentarily and she tried not to smile

"This is Loki" her father hissed

Izzy froze. Loki? No, no it couldn't be, she looked at her dad expecting him to suddenly yell April Fools! Or something but he didn't. Instead he walked directly towards the door pulling her along with him. She couldn't help but glance back at Loki who stared after her with a mix of guilt, sorrow and regret. His words echoed in her head _'I highly doubt you'd like me if I told you'_.

Izzy was certain of one thing:  
He was wrong about that

* * *

**As a side note, if any of you guys are my regular readers chapters for both Birthright and Return of the Dragonborn are now in progress because...I'm no longer sick! :D So keep an eye out for them :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hope you all liked the first chapter, so I now give you a second! :)**

Chapter 2;

"What exactly did you say to my daughter?" Tony Stark demanded

Loki smiled in amusement at the clear untamed rage simmering just under the surface

"Nothing really"

"What did she say to you?" he snapped

"Sadly not a thing that about you and your . . . Friends . . . that was helpful"

"Loki speaks the truth" His half-brother, Thor, informed

Loki glared at the other Asgardian and noticed Starks jaw relaxed slightly; but he was still tense

_Fatherly love_ Loki thought bitterly

He'd never really experienced it himself, which was why he was so envious of anyone who had, but he had to admit it was good that someone at least looked out for the girl; she was to innocent for her own good.  
Innocence: something Loki could've taken advantage of to manipulate her into telling him secrets of these humans and her impressive abilities. So why hadn't he? _Because she's different_ he though, remembering her golden hair and big green eyes.

Stark sighed heavily and ran a hand through his messy brown hair, he and Izzy didn't look that much alike in that area, he turned and walked up to the glass, everything about him yelled 'enemy'

"Don't you DARE go anywhere near my daughter again" He snarled "I swear if you do, you will regret the day you ever looked at her"

Loki smirked at him

"I don't regret today one little bit"

* * *

Izzy stared up at the empty ceiling above her. It was around dinner time and she supposed that she should go down and get something to eat given that she hadn't had anything all day, but something stopped her. Word would have spread about her being found with Loki and she really wasn't in the mood to face everyone and their piercing stares.

"Izzy?"

She pushed thoughts of Loki from her mind and tore her eyes away from the ceiling to look at her dad. He was standing awkwardly in the doorframe.

"Are you okay?" he asked, not bothering to hide his concern for his only child

"I'm fine"

"Well if you-"

"I said I'm fine" She snapped

She instantly regretted it once the hurt look flashed across his face

"Dad . . ."

"Its fine, I'll see you in the morning, okay"

Izzy nodded but still felt horrible. It wasn't alright, ever since he'd been kidnapped in Afghanistan he'd made extra effort to become closer to her, he didn't deserve being snapped at. Sighing she buried her head in her hands and let her shoulders slump in defeat. She turned, reached for her iPod and shoved her headphones into her ears; hoping that her music would distract her

_This is your fault Loki_ she thought to herself. Why did she keep thinking about him? Godamnit what did he do to her?

Growling to herself she yanked out the headphones and slid out of the bed. _I don't care what people told me, I'm going to find out what he did to me_ she thought as she grabbed two daggers and strapped them to her waist. Quietly she slid open the door and peeked out; searching for anyone who, like her, had skipped the meal. Satisfied she crept down the corridor towards the room that held Loki's glass cell.

* * *

Loki paced his cell silently and eyed the various controls around the room in an attempt to figure out how to open this damned cage. He'll admit it was a genius thing to trap him in; after all it was made to hold a beast much stronger, physically, than he. From what he'd heard the Hulk was dangerous and unstable, which was exactly what he needed for his plan.

See Loki had lied when he had told Stark that his dear old Izzy had told him nothing of interest. The poor girl had unwittingly given him a very small but very valuable piece of information. The heroes, the people trying to stop him, didn't seem to get along well with one another.  
With a smile Loki sat in the centre of his prison and closed his eyes. He wasn't sleeping, he just wanted them to think that, his ears would pick up the slightest noise so no one would be able to sneak up on him and interrupt. A plan began to formulate in his head when a soft creak resounded through the room, Loki's eyes slid open and scanned the room, he shrugged to himself when he saw no one. _You're on a giant metal ship where everything creaks, why bother looking?_ he asked himself and closed his eyes again.

But after a few minutes the hairs on the back of neck began to prickle, signaling that he was being watched. Ever so carefully he opened his eyes and yelped in surprise. There she was, her green eyes glittering with laughter, her head cocked slightly with her golden hair spilling around her face as she crouched in front of the glass. _How did she do that?_ he wondered but grinned, she defiantly was different to the other people he'd met.

* * *

Izzy couldn't help but grin at the stunned look that crossed his face

"Took you long enough"

"Oh I'm sorry, I'm not used to being stalked by a seventeen year old girl from another planet" He countered

"I'm not stalking anyone!" She said defensively

He smirked at her with his eyes glittering in satisfaction. Izzy frowned in annoyance at herself for falling into that trap.

"Now I thought you were meant to stay away from me, the big bad villain"

"I am meant to be staying away from you" She muttered "But I just - just can't"

She turned and watched him from the corner of her eye. His head cocked to the side and confusion etched itself on his flawless face

"Why can't you?" he asked

"I was hoping you could answer that"

He frowned

"You really are confusing you know"

"Thank you, I pride myself in that"

He laughed, it was a nice sound, it was the type that was contagious and that surprised her; she could never picture such a lovely sound coming from someone so evil and if it did she expected it to be a harsh grizzly sound that evoked fear not more laughter

"Seriously, why do you think I could answer that?" he asked

She opened her mouth to explain buy how could she? How could she tell him that she thought he'd somehow managed to mind-control her or something into coming to see him? The answer was simple; she couldn't. Besides he sounded genuinely curious as to why she thought that, that was enough proof to tell her he had no clue what she meant.

She sighed and shook her head

"Don't worry. I'm just being my usual stupid self"

"You don't seem stupid" he said earnestly

"Says the one who barely knows me" she said sarcastically but she smiled

He smiled back at her, but there was an implication in it, his eyes practically said _I don't know you yet, but I will soon_. Izzy glanced over her shoulder as the sound of voices closing in reached their ears. 'I'll see you tomorrow' she mouthed and sprinted from the room.


	3. Chapter 3

**Oh. My. Goodness. I have been getting so many alerts and emails about reviews and people favouriting this story, it's mind-blowing! So from the looks of it you guys seem to be enjoying it! *Does little happy dance***

**Now to C0nt0rt3dM1nd; Yes I've planned to have the two of them drift apart, I'm thinking of doing that in the next chapter :)  
StepiLady; I shall try my best to fit where Izzy got them from in. I have a pretty good idea about when I'll do that! So stay tuned  
Lily; Rolling onto Thor 2 huh? I like that idea and I did some research and have found bits and pieces saying that Loki might be in it sooo it's a good possibility that I'll take that idea on board :3**

**Thanks so much for all the positive feedback, its really motivating. Now I apologise for the small wait, I had this chapter ready to go but Fanfiction was NOT co-operating with me so I got a bit delayed :L**

**Anyway thats all the housekeeping done, I'm pretty sure this chapter is longer than the previous one so hope you all enjoy this one! :D**

Chapter 3;

As she scampered down the maze of hallways she checked her daggers in case any had fallen loose; she didn't want to leave any evidence telling people the she'd been with Loki

Izzy was so preoccupied with her own mess of thoughts and double checking she had everything that she didn't see Thor round the next corner until she ran smack-bang into him.

"Ow" she muttered as she stumbled back a few steps "You're like a brick wall"

Thor chuckled. He and Loki were not very alike, if she didn't know any better she wouldn't have guessed they were brothers. Her jaw dropped slightly as her natural female urge to admire him slammed into her. Thor had long blond hair, sky-blue eyes, a squared off face, he was tall and he was very . . . muscular. She'd met him once before but she'd barley taken any notice of him _'How do you NOT notice this?_' her mind asked.

"I'm sure a brick wall would have done a little more damage" he said

He held out his hand to help her up

"I don't know about that" Izzy muttered and eyed the giant hammer at his side

He smiled at her. 'Not as nice as Loki's she observed. In fact she couldn't help but compare the two of them; Thor was tall, attractive, buff and pretty much what every female on the planet would drool over whereas Loki was the type of guy that would get overlooked but was dark, mysterious and strangely alluring to anyone who paid him any attention

"May I ask, young Stark, where were you going in such a rush?"

"My room" Izzy said a little too quickly

He nodded; thankfully he didn't notice the odd tone to her voice

"Well I think you should go down to the cargo bay"

I frowned at him

"Why would I do that?"

"Your father seemed like he wanted your assistance"

"Oh okay"

The Asgardian nodded and took his leave. She rubbed her forehead; that had taken most of the impact from her run in with Thor, and began to walk in the opposite direction '_Right the cargo bay . . . Where is the cargo bay?_' She turned to see Thor's huge figure about to disappear around the corner.

"Thor!" She yelled

Izzy almost giggled at the sight of his shaggy blond head peeking around the corner at her

"Can you take me to the cargo bay? I don't know where it is"

He nodded and motioned for her to follow him

* * *

Tony Stark was on his knees fiddling with the mechanisms in the back of his Iron Man suit

"Godamnit" he muttered

Again he tried to configure the suit but he just couldn't quite get it.

"Hey dad"

He turned at the sound of Izzy's voice. She was accompanied by Thor but somehow she managed to look just as powerful and deadly next to him.

He smiled to himself, geez he was so proud of her. He could still remember when he'd come home to a twelve year old girl sitting on his couch looking at him with wide, fearful eyes.

Pepper had walked up to him and whispered that she'd been left by her mother who didn't want her anymore because of what she was.

He looked at her now, remembering those hopeless green eyes, she'd changed so much.

"Hey Iz"

She jerked her head towards to God of Thunder standing next to her

"Thor said you could use my help"

Tony glanced at Thor who smiled encouragingly. Tony could only guess why the god had brought his own daughter to 'help' him.

Izzy was probably the most skilled person on this ship when it came to anything that slightly resembled a knife.

"Did he now?

"Yeah he did . . ." She trailed off and looked at Thor suspiciously

"I thought your father could use some training with weapons in case he needs to protect himself"

"Thor" Tony began, pointing at his suit of armour "I'd hate to break it to you but what do you think I built this for?"

"But what if you didn't have your suit and something happened?"

"It won't"

"It could"

"How about this!" Izzy interrupted "I'll teach dad the basics ONLY if I" She pointed at Thor "Get to teach you as well, one day you might not have that hammer of yours to protect you"

Both Thor and Tony stared at her. Tony knew that she wanted to train them, it'd give her something to do, and neither of them could get out of this. Thor had somehow managed to dig a hole for the both of them that they couldn't get out of

* * *

Izzy had to resist face-palming as she watched the two men pretty much fail at using the small daggers she'd given them. Though she had to admit they were getting better, the two were no longer completely incompetent when it came to holding the blades

"Here like this"

She proceeded to crouch slightly and hold the dagger in front of her, waving it around slightly as if she was warding off enemies.  
The two men tried unsuccessfully to copy her. Izzy couldn't help but smile at the duo.

"I honestly don't see the point in this" Thor muttered

"You weren't saying that before when you told her I needed it" Tony snapped

A small smile tugged at her lips and she shook her head

"Alright I think you two have done enough for the day"

The two both gave sighs of relief and handed her the daggers they held. Her dad casually slung his arm over her shoulders as the trio began to walk towards their rooms.

"I honestly don't see how you do it Iz"

She looked curiously at her dad

"Do what?"

"All the knife stuff. Personally I think guns are better"

"That's because you don't have to make an effort to use them"

"Are you calling me lazy?"

"No I was saying you were a bundle of energy" she said sarcastically

She grinned as both Thor and her father howled with laughter.

"I must say, I do like this young Stark" Thor said approvingly

"Thanks Th -"

Izzy was cut off by the deep, gravelly voice of S.H.I.E.L.D's director. Nick Fury.

Fury was a tall imposing man, he was dark skinned, his head had been completely shaved of any hair though he had stubble running along his chin and jaw, but what freaked her out the most was the eye patch he wore over one eye. Izzy knew that it was obviously there to protect his eye, which probably wasn't there, but it still sent shivers down her spine.

What's worse was the knowing glare he was shooting at her.

"Stark, I think you and I need to have a chat alone"

As he spoke his eye never wavered from Izzy's, she forced herself to stare back, icy cold fingers ran up her spine as her dads warm, protective arm fell away from her shoulders.

"Alright. Thor, would you take Izzy back to her room?"

"No. Thor needs to be included too" Fury said flatly

Izzy's eyes locked with her dad; she smiled weakly shrugged

"I'm not an Avenger"

Her dads face softened; he knew how left out she felt about that. He nodded and followed Fury and Thor down the hallway and out of sight.

_'I'm not an Avenger; I never will be no matter how badly I want it'._ She thought about going to see Loki again but something stopped her. It was something about the way Fury had looked at her; as if he'd known something . . .

She shook her head and clenched her hands into fists _'your being stupid Iz, paranoid like usual'_. Slowly she began to make her way back to the cargo bay; she needed to hit something.

* * *

Tony stared at the surveillance tapes running on the small TV screens with a mix of anger, worry and a small sense of betrayal as Izzy's slender figure appeared and sat down in front of Loki's cell.

"Ever since her first encounter with him I've been monitoring the area constantly in case she . . . did anything" Fury growled

Tony shook his head in denial, why did she keep going to see him? Loki couldn't have gotten to Izzy, from what he'd read in the S.H.E.I.L.D archives Loki needed his staff to gain control over someone's mind. He glared at Fury

"Don't insinuate that my daughter is a traitor Fury" Tony hissed

"I wasn't saying that"

"Then what were you saying!"

"I distinctly remember Loki mentioning something about us being ants and him being a boot"

Stark stared at Fury as if he'd suddenly lost his mind.

"I'm saying that it seems that young Isabelle is Loki's boot"

Both Thor and Stark blinked owlishly at S.H.I.E.L.D's director

"Loki seems to have taken a liking to Isabelle" Fury said slowly

He looked towards Thor and raised his eyebrow questioningly. Stark watched, hoping that the demigod would deny what Fury had said. He didn't want to have some crazed super villain fawning after his little girl.

"Yes" Thor said slowly "Loki has taken an odd interest in the young Stark"

"Soo?" asked Stark with disappointment

"So we could take advantage of that" Fury explained "Convince Izzy to talk to him and try squeeze some of his plans out of him"

Stark blew out a stressed breath and ran a hand through his hair. It was their only way to gain an advantage over Loki, but would Izzy do it? _What if she feels the same way about him?_

"What if she won't do it?" Thor asked

"She's my kid, so she'll do what she's told" Stark muttered, trying to reassure himself that she would

Fury nodded

"It's settled then. As a little incentive tell her that she can become part of the Avengers if she does this"

Stark nodded and glanced at the small TV screens once more; one showed that Izzy had returned to the cargo bay. He rubbed his temples, motioned for Thor to follow him, and began his heart clenching walk to his daughter.

* * *

"No" Izzy growled

"C'mon Iz, this could help us" Her dad pleaded

"I said no"

"But you could become one of us" Thor pushed

Anger bubbled inside of her and she whirled on the god

"Tell me, Sparky. What part of NO do you not understand?" She snapped

Thor looked utterly taken aback by her sudden outburst and was clearly insulted by the name she called him.

"Isabelle" Her father said sternly

She clenched her jaw and resisted the urge to tell him where he could shove this little proposal. Why was he pushing her about this so much, it was unlike him to irritate her so much. _But he doesn't know why it's annoying you and neither do you_ her conscience whispered; and it had a point, why WAS she so bothered about spying on Loki for S.H.E.I.L.D? Not only that; how had they found out she was visiting Loki?

"Why?" She questioned "Why does it matter if I do or don't?"

"It matters because the fate of the world could depend on it" Tony said flatly "Besides I'm your father and you WILL do as you're told"

Izzy glared at her father but she felt her heart crack. He'd never treated her like some pesky little kid or demanded that she do anything until now. Her heart chlenched as her fears started to become true; something had begun to drive a wedge between the two in the hopes of spliting them apart. With an angry huff she stromed away; resisting the urge to either burst into tears or throw a knife at the two men staring after her.

* * *

**Just a little P.S. I decided to put these line things ^ Into the story to kind of help seperate the perspectives and make it less confusing for you readers :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Helloo my dear readers! I'm glad you're enjoying the story, its great to see so much positive and constructive feedback; I'm taking it all on board and doing my best to adjust people and things in the story without changing it dramaticly all at once.**

**Now for those of you who were slightly dissapointed at the lack of Izzy/Loki and just plain Loki-ness in general in the last chapter (Trust me I know how you feel), You'll pleased to know that he is in this chapter quite a bit :D**

**That reminds me. makoblue93; You are definately not the only one who thinks that Loki is a 'sex god' as you put it x)  
And if any of you want to ask me any questions or give me more feedback you can message me or if you really want to you can follow me on Twitter (here's my username thingy-me-do; Icefire882)**

**Anywhooo I shall let you get to reading the actually story now. Enjoy :)  
**

Chapter 4;

_"Mummy, mummy! Look at what I can do!" An ecstatic, twelve year old Izzy yelled_

_Tara Wilson turned around at the sound of her daughter's incoming footsteps. She, like Izzy, had dark blond hair and ice blue eyes. Well Izzy USED to have icy blue eyes and dark blond hair, now the colour in her eyes and hair had changed dramatically; what was once blue was now a vivid emerald green and her hair was what could only be described as golden. A side effect from the medication she was on._

_"What is it Izzy?" She sighed as she continued to wash the dishes_

_"This!" The child squealed in excitement _

_With a roll of her eyes Tara glanced at her; expecting to find her finger-painting or eating dirt or something childish. The glass bowl Tara had been drying slipped from her hands and shattered as a scream of terror tore its way out of her throat when she saw the balls of fire sitting in Izzy's hands_

_"Mummy what's wrong?" Izzy asked, the excited smile fading from her childish face as she stepped closer to her mum_

_"N-no" Tara stuttered and backed behind the small table they ate at; putting as much distance between her and the girl "Y-you stay over there"_

_Izzy stared at her mum with wide eyes. What had she done wrong? Why was she trying to get away from her?_

_"Mummy . . .?" She asked and reached for her_

_Tara__ cowered from her daughter's outstretched hand 'No this-this thing is not my daughter'. A sudden realisation crashed into her 'The medication!'_

_"Izzy, go to your room and don't come out unless I tell you to" Tara said and tried not to shake_

_Izzy looked at her in confusion but did as she was told. Once Tara was sure she'd done what she was told she rifled through s pile of papers until she found what she was looking for, quickly she snatched up her phone and dialled the number_

_Izzy opened her eyes to the sound of voices floating under her door. One of them was her mum's soft familiar voice but the other was a harsh, croaky voice of a man that she didn't recognise. Quietly she got out of bed and pressed her ear on the door_

_"What the hell does this stuff do?" Her mum demanded_

_"Why I told you; it just enhances her physical abilities which is what she needs"_

_"Stop lying!" She yelled "You've turned her into some kind of freak!"_

_Izzy flinched at her mum's harsh words.' Why am I freak?' she wondered_

_The male voice let out a cruel laugh that turned Izzy's blood to ice _

_"Well I guess we'll try to fix that" He said as his footsteps got closer and closer_

_Suddenly her door was flung with such force that she was knocked backwards. A huge man wearing a grey over-coat towered above her; she screamed for her mum as the man pulled out a huge needle filled with some kind of green serum and plunged it into the skin just above her heart._

_"Mummy make it stop!" Izzy sobbed_

_But her mum just stood there in the doorway, looking at her as if she was some kind of disease. All the while she watched the man press the needles tip deeper into the skin, ensuring that every last drop made its way to her heart._

_"You're not my child" Her mother hissed_

* * *

Izzy woke from the nightmare with a start; her sheets were strewn all over the bed and she was covered in a cold sheen of sweat. With a shaky hand she reached for her iPod laying on the bedside table and checked the time; it was 2:30am. _Oh you've got to be kidding me! One and half hours of sleep?_ She ran a hand through her now damp hair and slid out of bed; no matter how hard she tried she knew she'd never be able to get back to sleep after that nightmare.

Silently, like a shadow, she slipped out into the dark corridor and let her mind wander. She soon knew exactly where her feet were taking her when she found herself thinking about him, his mischievous smirk, his sea-green eyes and mysteriously dark nature. In fact she didn't even care if her father found out that she was going to see Loki again and got angry at her; to be honest she WANTED to get him peeved off so, if he did, it would be a bonus.

When she got to the room she didn't even bother to be quiet and sneak up on him again; she was to tense. Instead she just stormed in and began to pace, feeling Loki's eyes following her every move.

"They asked me to spy on you for them y'know?" she whispered and ran a hand through her hair

Loki stood and regarded her with a cool, flat expression; the one that basically screams 'I hate Earth and all its living beings. You are all beneath me and you should stop wasting all the precious oxygen this planet gives you'

"So, is that why your here then?" He asked and walked closer to the glass "To get all my little secrets and then go running back to Daddy and his precious Avengers?

Izzy watched him cautiously and instinctively reached for her dagger, which she'd left in her room . . . _Great; Now I've managed to piss off a god who wants to kill us all. Please let the glass hold_ she though with terror as the hairs on her neck and arms prickled at the ferocious glare he fixed her with

"Well!" He demanded and slammed his fist against the glass

She flinched away from him as she noticed tiny cracks appear in the glass

"No. I told them I wouldn't do it" she snapped, her voice sounding braver than she felt

Confusion and shock flickered across his face; he cocked his head and raised a sceptical eyebrow at her, though she could still see anger burning in his eyes. She assumed that meant one thing: _Explain, and do it fast_

"My dad and your brother both came to me earlier tonight asking me to uncover your plans and then tell Fury everything I discovered and in return I would become an Avenger. But then I told them I didn't want to do that and left" she finished

Loki stood there in silence, his face an emotionless mask, considering what she'd said. _I betrayed him _she realised _That's why he's being so hostile; he thought he could trust me and now I just made him question that_

"If you must know, about three quarters of this ship probably hate me now because of that, my dad included" she joked in an attempt to lighten the mood

"Why did you say no? And why are you here"

She looked into his eyes; willing him to see the confusion in them. Because confusion was what she always felt when it came to anything semi-Loki related. She couldn't even explain to herself why she wanted to come and see him, let alone defend him. _I should hate him. After all he's evil and I'm good . . . Aren't I?_

"I dunno. I've wanted to become an Avenger ever since my dad told me about it and even before then I always dreamed of helping him save the world" She whispered "And now look at me! I'm sitting here, with what Shield would describe as The World's Most Dangerous Super Villain instead"

He smirked at her last comment. _Finally! He doesn't look as pissed anymore_. Izzy sighed and smiled at him

"Dealing with you is stressful, y'know that?"

He grinned and she leaned forward until her forehead was resting on the glass separating the two. With a small smile she closed her eyes, letting her arms dangle at her sides

"You look tired" He observed

"Thank you, Captain Obvious" she smirked, she'd always wanted to use that line

"I'm sorry I frightened you"

Izzy opened her eyes and looked up at him through her lashes all the while trying to compose her best attempt at Loki's signature 'I have no heart, therefore no feelings' expression

"You didn't frighten me"

"Oh? So you flinched because you thought it would be fun? He asked with a smirk

* * *

Loki watched Izzy as a small smile of amusement tugged at the edges of his lips. The poor thing ended up opening and closing her mouth to argue so many times that she looked like a dying fish gasping for air. _I don't think I remember smiling this much in my life before_ he mused while he continued to watch her flounder for some sort of comeback but in the end she gave up with a tired sigh and slid down the glass until she was sitting on the cold metal floor. Unconsciously he shuffled closer to the wall of his cage purely so he could be that little bit closer to her

"Loki" she muttered "Tell me something about yourself"

He frowned. What could he tell her? There were many things in his life that he NEVER wanted to talk about and many memories that he didn't want to re-live, but there was a small part of him that wanted to tell her about them; to share his burden with someone else.

"Laufeyson" He finally said

Confusion danced in those big emerald eyes and he smiled

"Is that . . . Asguardian for something? Seriously Loki, I speak English and English only"

He laughed quietly to himself which only made her more curious

"C'mooon, translate it!" She pestered

"There is no translation for it. Laufeyson is my last name"

"Oh."

She looked away from him quickly but he still caught sight of the tell-tale red of a blush creeping into her cheeks

"Wilson" she whispered tiredly "That's my mother's last name, I still go by it sometimes so I'm not always noticed as Tony Starks daughter. Y'know its times like these when I wish you went tapped in a cell that resembles a giant fishbowl"

A yawn escaped her lips and she began to slump slightly. Loki moved to tap on the glass to wake her but stopped; from the blackish-purple colouring under her eyes it was obvious she needed rest. So he let her be and settled for watching over her with his sea-green eyes instead

_I'll be out of this cage soon Izzy, I can promise you that_ he thought with an evil smile

* * *

The next morning Izzy was jerked away by the sound of raised voices echoing around the hallway; one of them sounded like it belonged to her dad. _Oh goodie, I get to deal with an angry pack of Avengers!_ She though and grimaced as her stiff muscles screamed in protest from a night of sleeping on the hard floor.

"Tell me Loki, why did you let me sleep here?"

She listened closely for some smart-ass response but instead was rewarded by absolute silence. She frowned and slowly rolled over.

"Loki wh -"

Her throat constricted at the sight of the empty glass cell in front of her. Cursing under her breath she got up, ignoring the pain from her muscles, ran from the room and headed directly for the Avengers. She guessed she was getting close to the source of their voices when suddenly a huge explosion boomed somewhere and the huge Helicarrier suddenly lurched sideways, crashing Izzy against the wall opposite her.

"Ow, seriously?" she muttered and rubbed her head "That's the third time in two days"

With a quick shake of her head she got back up and continued to look for someone; now that she could no longer hear the raised voices of her friends she had to rely on memory to find her way to the lab. And her memory wasn't the most crash-hot thing in the history of great memories. _C'mon where is it? _

Suddenly a loud crash echoed through the hallway. No far away from her one of the walls had begun to bulge as if someone was smashing their fist into the thick metal; her eyes widened with fear and she backed away as the metal groaned, quickly she summoned a fire in her hand as the wall finally gave way and was followed by a mighty roar

_Shit_ she thought when the huge green figure of the Hulk crashed through the wrecked wall and looked directly at her. A low growl sounded from his throat and he thundered towards her, with a cry of terror Izzy turned, extinguished her fire and bolted down the hallway; when it came to the Hulk, running and praying he wouldn't catch up to you was pretty much your best and only option. As she rounded a corner she burst into what looked like a perfect replica of the cargo bay and saw Thor

"Thor!" She screamed

The blond god whirled around, his eyes widening at the sight of Izzy pelting towards him and away from a very big, very green and very angry Hulk.

"Get out of the way!" She yelled while he continued to stand there

_Are you really THAT stupid? _She thought desperately as she launched up into the air, flipped herself over his head, landed in a roll and stoped in a crouch behind him. The Hulk was still barrelling towards them and Thor still stood in the same place

"Thor, you moron! GET OUT OF THE WAY!" she cried

The Hulk lunged at the same time Thor's hammer, Mjölnir, flew into his hand and was swung into the Hulks jaw with bone-crushing force. Izzy stared as the Hulk was thrown back into a metal pylon which snapped on impact. She leapt to her feet, ignited a fire in her hands and stood by the god

"Stay where you are young Stark" Thor growled

"No!" Izzy snapped "He attacked me first!"

Thor turned and glared at her but a small movement in the corner of her eye caught her attention. She turned her head only to just see Loki slither past; she resisted the urge to call out to him and instead turned to Thor

"Actually . . . I think you should handle Hulk, I mean your immortal right?" She said quickly and raced off after the God of Thunders brother

She burst out into the corridor and whipped her head from side to side; two exits, one going up, to what Izzy assumed was outside, and one going somewhere into the ship _I'm going to say he wants to escape not go visit Nick Fury _she thought and stalked up the steps. When she was nearly at the top she peeked up onto the deck and there he was, his dark, slicked back hair shining as he spoke to a few S.H.E.I.L.D agents _what the hell? I thought they were on our side_. One of the agents jerked his head towards an aircraft, ready for take-off, on the deck. Loki smiled and strolled towards the jet

"Loki!" She cried and jumped from her hiding place

The newly escaped god tense and the agents raised their guns, aiming directly for her chest, head and pretty much everywhere else they could shoot at and kill her instantly. Carefully she raised her hands in surrender and one agent approached her, roughly grabbing and dragging her towards Loki.

"Ah, geez be careful would you!" she hissed

The agent, obviously not impressed by her request, twisted her arm even more. On instinct Izzy stopped shoved her elbow into his ribs which caused the man to grunt in pain as he bent slightly which gave her the perfect opportunity to slam her knee into his face. The agent's fallen comrades rushed forward to aid him and grab her but Loki held out a hand, he smiled and raised an eyebrow

"That was quite impressive" He complemented. _Just like the first time we met_

"Sir?" an agent asked uncertainly, his weapon still aimed at Izzy

"Don't worry" He said smoothly "She's a . . . friend"

His smooth voice sent shivers down her spine, she couldn't tell whether it was the good kind of shivers or not, as he eyed her; he seemed so much more intimidating and dangerous to her now that he wasn't entrapped by glass, now that there was absolutely nothing that could stop him from killing her in a second. The other men lowered their guns as he motioned for them to give the two some space, he turned to her; amusement glittered in his eyes.

"What are you doing here?"

"I-I just" she stopped, _I can do this, I can tell him . . . I think_, and took a deep breath "I don't want you to leave"


	5. Chapter 5

**Once again you guys amaze me at the sheer amount of alerts for reviews and favourites! *Gives thank you hug* I went and saw the Avengers again last night and I watched Thor tonight which gave me the chance to . . . 'observe' Loki a lot more ;) *Wink, wink. Nudge, nudge***

**makoblue93; I feel hounered to have youi as my loyal reviewer :3  
EMSmith; I'm glad you like the story so far! And you will be happy to know that he and Izzy get closer in this chapter :D Plus I will be making a tumblr account and I plan on following you :)  
C0nt0rt3dM1nd; I'm glad you liked it! I'm not the best at writing action scenes so that makes me feel alot better about it :)**

**Now about the location I chose for Izzy's mum to live. I have never been to America let alone New York before and the closest place (That I knew of) to Manhattan was Brooklyn :L So if thats a bad choice please forgive me.**

**I'll stop typing now and let you read... xD**

Chapter 5;

Loki just stood there, his eyebrow raised in a sceptical expression, and gazed at her until she began to feel uncomfortable. She self-consciously crossed her arms, doing her best at hiding herself from his hawk-like stare and keeping warm in the cold air whipping around them.

"Well now. That IS a surprise," He said with a smirk and stepped closer to her.

Izzy watched him wearily for any signs that he was going to hurt her; there was none. Instead he stopped right in front of her, his smirk still lingering on his lips, and leaned down to whisper in her ear.

"We can always fix that,"

She shivered as his warm breath tickled her neck and leaned away to look into his eyes. _He smells so good _she noted, she blushed when she caught herself thinking about it.

"I don't see how –"

Her sentence ended in a high pitched yelp of surprise when her feet were swept out from underneath her, making her land right in Loki's surprisingly strong arms. Izzy's arms snaked around his neck and locked themselves there; she didn't particularly want to be dropped to the floor by accident. As if he could read her mind, which he probably could, his arms tightened around her, pulling her even closer to his chest.

"What are you doing?" she asked breathlessly.

He said nothing and smirked at her, his fingers softly tickling her thigh and ribs as he walked. _Oh god, I'm in THE God of Mischief's arms . . . How am I being so calm about this? Actually how am I LIKING this?_

"Now, you're going to be a good little prisoner and stay put while I'm gone," He told her as he carried her towards the awaiting jet.

"Where are you going?"

"I forgot to do something," He said and set her down.

He pointed specifically to one of the seats lining the inside of the plane.

"Sit."

She sat and he smiled warmly, motioning for a few agents to watch over her.

"You are to watch her. Not harm her," Loki snapped at her guards, the warm smile he'd given her just seconds ago had been replaced by a cruel evil snarl "Do you understand?"

The guards nodded and saluted; Loki rolled his eyes at them before he turned his green-eyed gaze to Izzy.

"Try not to kill them while I'm gone; I still have use for them yet," His eyes shone with laughter as he turned and strolled away

Her mind kept re-playing Loki picking her up and holding her in his arms, believe it or not, she'd actually felt safe in his arms, _That's kind of ironic; feeling safe in a super villain's arms_ she thought with a small smile.

"Looks like the boss has a new play-thing," One of her 'guards' said and jerked his head towards Izzy while the other two snickered.

"I can hear you," she half-heartedly growled.

But the three men ignored her and continued to rant and complain. _'Try not to kill them'_ he'd told her, well Loki didn't say anything about not hurting them . . . Mind you she could just wait and tell him about what they were saying and she was sure they'd be dead in a second. Her eyes roved the space and settled on the small cockpit, shrugging to herself, she got up and took a step forward, instantly guns where automatically pointed at her.

"Where d'you think you're going prisoner?" one man barked.

"Gonna find Loki huh?"

"Yeah, just cause you're pretty little face got to him." another jeered.

Izzy's jaw clenched, it took all of her willpower not fry the men to a crisp or turn them into her very own human popsicles; looks like S.H.I.E.L.D agents where always annoying, no matter who they were working for.

"No I got bored. So I was going to the cockpit to see if I could actually have an intelligent conversation with the pilot." She hissed.

The men exchanged glances that she couldn't decipher. _They've cornered you!_ Her mind cried when the three men began to walk towards her, grinning from ear to ear. Her eyes darted around the small space and they locked with the cockpit once again.

"Bored eh?" one asked.

"Well let's have some fun shall we?" the second smirked.

Her muscles tensed, waiting for one of them to reach for her, so she could launch herself into the air when someone behind them cleared their throat. The three men and Izzy all turned to see Loki, silhouetted by bright sunlight, standing there and holding a wicked looking staff with a glowing blue orb attached to it. She watched the faces of the men pale with fear as he raised the staff and pointed at them.

"What part of 'watch her' do you mortals not understand!" He yelled, the rage in his voice made Izzy cringe even though it wasn't aimed at her.

"S-s-sir we d-didn't mean to –"

"Silence!" He snarled and stalked towards them.

The two men whimpered as Loki's hand latched onto their comrade's throat and lifted him off his feet like a ragdoll.

"Let this be a lesson to the two of you." Loki murmured.

_Look away you idiot!_ Her mind commanded but her eyes didn't respond. An evil smile spread across Loki's lips as he plunged the tip of the staff into the man's heart. His gurgled scream was cut off by Loki squeezing the man's neck. Izzy stared in horror as he let go and the lifeless body crumpled to the floor, Loki motioned for the remaining agents to dispose of the body. He turned; the surprise and guilt on his face made it clear that he'd forgotten she was standing there, and crouched beside her. She didn't realise how much she was shaking until Loki gently placed a protective hand on her shoulder.

"Izzy –"

"Where are we going?"

"Izzy don't –"

"Where. Are. We. Going?" She demanded and finally met the god's green eyes.

Loki's face softened but she saw the hurt flicker in his eyes.

"I am unsure; I have yet to find a suitable place."

She nodded and stood; his strong hands gently gripped her forearms when her legs trembled and threatened to give out. _Pull yourself together Iz_ she told herself and, shrugging him off, staggered towards the cockpit.

"What are you doing?" Loki called

Concern tainted his words but she ignored him. She had an idea of where they could go, in her case it would be a horrible idea but for him it would be perfect. The pilot was fiddling with various buttons and knobs when she walked in. The moment she saw them she had the irrational urge to press everything just to see could see what it did, an unfortunate habit she'd picked up from her dad. Silently cursing herself and her dad she cleared her throat, the pilot turned their head slightly towards her.

"Who are you?" the deep voice of a male asked.

_Are there ANY girls here that I can talk to?_ She wondered. She felt the heat of Loki's body when he stopped behind her, the feeling of safety that she'd gotten when he'd held her washed over her again, subtly she took a small step backwards; inching closer to him

"She's with me," Loki said.

"Oh! Sir! Of course," The man said, sounding startled.

"We need to get to Brooklyn." she told him.

Loki shot her a questioning look but again she ignored him.

"Yes ma'am. Anywhere specifically in Brooklyn?"

"Somewhere you can land this thing without being seen."

He nodded and began to fiddle with a few switches _probably the navigation system or something_. Fatigue crashed over Izzy so suddenly her knees buckled. But Loki was there, catching her and sweeping her into his arms once more, without a word she snuggled against his chest and closed her eyes. Once again he had, literally, swept her off of her feet.

* * *

His breath caught when he looked down at her, cradled in his arms as if she was a small child. Her eyes were closed but she wasn't sleeping, no, her breathing was too fast and shallow for that, she was just too exhausted to do anything else. What astonished him the most was how peaceful her face looked; it added to her beauty, _if that's even possible_. Either way the scale of his attraction to her hit him with full force, even now it still worried him that a mere mortal like her could charm to him so easily.

_Loki, Loki, Loki. What have you gotten yourself into this time?_

Gingerly he lowered himself down into a chair and softly placed Izzy out along the others with her head resting on his lap.

"Izzy?" He whispered in case she had in fact fallen asleep.

Her eyelids fluttered open in response and she looked up at him "Yeah?"

"Why do you want to go to Brooklyn?"

"You need a place to hide until the Avengers are ready to fight again, right?"

He nodded, it was true, he would have to wait for the Avengers to lick their wounds before they would make any serious attempts at stopping him and he wasn't about to go wasting his resources participating in minor battles. So until then he needed a place close to the city that he could stay.

"What are you planning? He asked her when he saw her eyes gleaming knowingly.

"My mum's old apartment is in Brooklyn. I figured you could stay there for a while."

"Won't you have to convince her?"

Izzy sat up and shrugged, frowning at her clenched hands.

"For all I know she could be on the other side of the world so hopefully I won't have to convince her."

Loki observed her from the corner of his eye _she has family issues like myself, we are more alike than I thought._ He sighed and touched her arm, doing his best to try and comfort her.

"I'm sure she'll be happy to see you."

She laughed; a cruel, harsh sound that didn't suit her, before she buried her head in her hands.

"I don't know what I'm doing Loki."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean I don't know whether I'm good or bad or both! I'm here with you, helping to hide you away from the Avengers but I know that, when it comes down to it, I won't hurt them if I have to fight them."

He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close to him. He began to rub her arm soothingly, something his mother had done to him when he was a boy.

"I can't tell you what to do."

She curled up against him, slid her own arms around him and turned her face to burrow it in his chest.

"Give me advice at least?"

Loki thought carefully about this. He shoved all thoughts of world domination from his mind so his words wouldn't be tainted.

"I . . . I think you're just trying your best to help the all of us. You're not bad Izzy, not like me. But you're not what S.H.E.I.L.D classes as 'good' because you're helping me."

She pulled away and tilted her chin to look up into his face and he smiled. _Even when she's confused she manages to somehow tug at my heart._

"I don't think your evil, I think you've been wronged and because of that you're misunderstood," She mumbled.

That was it. Those few words, words he'd always wanted to hear, was all it took for her to melt the armour around Loki's heart, the armour that had been weakening since the first time he saw her from that glass prison. He still couldn't believe Izzy had said that after she'd seen him murder that pathetic mortal agent _that just means she really does mean it_. He looked into those big emerald eyes and titled his head as he slowly brought his face closer to hers until their lips met.

* * *

The kiss was more of a peck or a grazing of the lips but it still made her heart beat wildly as if it was trying to escape from her chest. Loki pulled away a little, his breathing sounding slightly ragged, and looked away guiltily.

"I'm so sorry –"

She didn't let him finish, instead she pulled him down to her face and kissed him gingerly. He sat there, stunned, for a few seconds before he uncertainly kissed her back; he was gentle with her as if she was a piece of highly breakable glass. _Holy crap. Loki, the freaking God of Mischief is my first kiss. Holy crap! _She realised with a start; it was actually a nice thought. Reluctantly Loki pulled away from her, the shadow of a smirk played along his lips, lips she'd just kissed! He leaned in when a voice echoed overhead, causing the two to jump away from eachother.

"Sir, I've found a place to land. We should be at our destination shortly."

_Oh goodie_ Izzy thought


	6. Chapter 6

**Mind blown again. That is all I'm saying :)**

**Azura Soul Reaver; Yup poor Iz is very confused.  
Clouds-Aloud561; Thank you muchly :D I made you love Loki? Oh my lord, thats an achievement for me xD I think I should make my friends read my story so they can love Loki too ;)  
Magiically; I'm so sorry D: I completely mind blanked about that. I shall improve that for you and again I'm sorry  
happeyapple; I'm glad you're enjoying the story :)  
Outlaw-Lanaya; Loki pushing her mum out a window? Hmm you've given me an idea for the next chapter!  
EMSmith; I don't have a cow! D:  
And to everyone else; I'm so happy you liked the last chapter! I did advise you at the start that they would be getting closer in it ;)**

**Anyway I had trouble with this chapter and it didn't turn out quite like I wanted it to D: So if it's not to your liking or expectations I'm sorry :L Now I think I'm going to let you all read xD**

Chapter 6;

Steve Rogers and the rest of the Avengers watched Tony Stark pacing backwards and forwards. The millionaire looked as if he was going to have a nervous breakdown any second now, but who could blame him? The poor guy had just finished watching his only child get kidnapped by a crazed god.

He stopped pacing and stood next to Fury, eyeing the screen that had shown the surveillance footage of the event.

"Play it again," he demanded.

"Friend Stark, I do not –" Thor began

"Shut up and play the damned video again!"

Steve pinched the bridge of his nose as the footage began to play once more; to be honest he didn't really want to watch Izzy get taken away again so why did Tony?

_Because he wants his daughter back._

"Why? Why did you go after him alone?"

They were all silent. That was the question nobody had the answer to; Natasha and Thor had assumed it was because Izzy thought she would be able to reason with him, Tony thought it was because Loki had tricked her but Steve thought otherwise. From what he could tell Loki hadn't forced her to do anything, it was if Izzy followed him on her own free will and, god forbid him for thinking this, let him take her away. He could still see the security footage he'd watched of Izzy visiting the god; there was something going on between the two . . . something romantic perhaps?

_Stop it Rogers, you're just jealous,_ he thought,_ Izzy wouldn't do such a thing_. Yes its true Steve may or may not have had a small crush on Tony Stark's daughter but nothing had ever happened between the two. Now he was just as worried about her as Stark was.

"Tony, watching the video isn't going to bring her back," He said, standing and placing a hand on his friends shoulder.

He watched the Man of Iron clench and unclench his fists in an attempt to stay calm. _I think I'd rather take on Dr. Banner right now_.

"The best thing we can do for her now is to try our best to defeat Loki."

Slowly Stark nodded and left the room. The rest of the Avengers exchanged a glance that said one thing: We have to find Izzy.

* * *

The jet started to descend and Izzy's nails dug into the soft underside of the chair she was currently clutching onto. She hated the way everything shook when planes got lower and lower to the ground and this jet was no exception, though it wasn't as bumpy as some of the planes she'd travelled in. She closed her eyes and blew out a sigh of relief when they finally touched down _thank god!_

"Lead the way."

Izzy nearly leapt ten feet in the air when she heard Loki's voice beside her. But she whirled around only to find the space next to her empty. She twirled around, she was sure he'd been there.

A soft chuckle reached her ears and she turned her head slightly; still no one there.

"That's it. I've gone insane," She concluded.

"Oh no my dear, I'm afraid you're not that bad yet."

Her jaw dropped when Loki materialised out of thin air.

"Holy mother of god. THAT is impressive."

Loki smirked at her and opened his arms invitingly. A small smile spread across her face and she happily stepped into his embrace.

"Not as impressive as you," He murmured.

"Not as impressive as me?" She scoffed "I can't turn invisible."

"Yes. But you were able to sneak up on me that night when I was in the cage, no mere mortal or god has been able to do that to me before."

She rolled her eyes but stopped arguing. The two stood there in silence for a few moments, wrapped in each other's arms. Her arms tightened around him when he picked her off the floor and placed her on his feet; giving her a little more height so she could easily nuzzle his neck.

"Tell me, where are we going?" Loki asked.

Izzy's eyes narrowed.

"Why?"

He looked at her innocently. She gasped suddenly when she felt an odd sensation, like being sucked into something, and then they were abruptly outside in the cool evening air.

She stepped away from him and crouched down, placing her head between her knees. _I'm going to be sick._

"What the hell just happened?" she asked and blinked rapidly to rid her of the dizzying feeling she'd gotten.

"Teleportation."

"Oh okay," She eyed him "You are so not teleporting me to my mum's apartment."

"Fine, lead the way."

She held up her hand and took a few steadying breaths before she stood and placed her hands on her knees. Loki cocked his head, brow lined with concern, and placed a steadying hand on her shoulder.

"Are you ill?"

She shook her head "Teleporting doesn't agree with my stomach."

Loki bent to pick her up again but she shook her head and pushed him away.

"We need to be subtle Loki, SHEILD could have cameras anywhere so you can't be all Knight-in-Shining-Armour like and carry me home."

The God of Mischief looked slightly disappointed.

"So," she continued "I'm going to lead the way and you're going to follow me but you'll be invisible."

With that she turned and walked down an alleyway that connected to the main street. She glanced over her shoulder to make sure Loki was invisible and smiled at the supposedly empty alley behind her. It felt odd wandering around the familiar streets that she once travelled on as a child. Brooklyn had changed a lot during her time away but in her neck of the woods it wasn't really a good thing. Her neighbourhood had a reputation for being one of Brooklyn's 'dangerous' ones, her eyes flicked between drunks laying around in doorways to occasional groups of people that stuck to the shadows and alleys, and she could see why.

Izzy nearly had a heart attack when Loki whispered in her ear "Be careful". From the sounds of it he wasn't particularly impressed by what he saw and she couldn't blame him; most of the apartments and shop fronts looked run-down and dingy in the dark.

"Shit," she muttered when she rounded the next corner.

The mouth of an alley she used to get to her mum's apartment was currently blocked by a group of very formidable looking men, well maybe men is being too nice they looked more like young boys around the age of nineteen. She was just about to walk back the way she came when a voice called out to her.

"Where do you think you're going doll face?"

She balled her hands into fists, she could fight them easily but she resisted. _I won't use my powers, not when SHIELD are on mine and Loki's tails_. Loki! Where was he?

"Get lost!" She called over her shoulder and kept walking. Sadly she'd misjudged the distance between her and the man who suddenly grabbed her arm and yanked her towards him. _Alright fine, I'll fight them._

Instead of struggling she let the man pull her against him. A surge of energy flooded through her veins when she stopped holding her powers back, her magical white suit with etchings of icicles melted over her body and her hair froze. She grinned impishly at the man and grabbed his cheeks in her hands, she watched his eyes widen in terror once the cold from her hand leeched into his skin, he tried to scream but ice formed over his lips and cut it off. She glanced up at the rest of the group who were watching in horror as their friend was slowly covered in ice that radiated from her hands.

"Boo."

They ran, not even caring to stay and help their friend. She took her hands away from his cheeks and looked into his eyes which were darting around like a cornered animals, she knew he could hear her.

"I warned you to get lost. Next time think twice about who you try to attack."

Without another word she left and jogged down the alley. Loki was leaning against the dirty brick wall, a smile playing along his lips. Anger bubbled inside of her.

"Where you here this whole time?"

He grinned.

"You jerk! Why didn't you help me?"

"You seemed to be handling yourself just fine," He said calmly. _How can he be so calm!_

"They could've beaten the crap out of me!" She cried.

A muscle in his jaw twitched "But they didn't."

"But they could have!"

"And if they did I would have killed them all on the spot!" He hissed "Do you really think I would have stood by and let them harm you Isabelle?"

Izzy looked away in shame; for a moment she had thought he would've let them hurt her if they'd gotten the chance. The hurt on Loki's face was obvious but it was replaced seconds later by a mask of indifference.

"I'm sorry Loki."

She waited for a response but got nothing. With a sigh she kept walking down the maze of alleys and streets.

* * *

Loki numbly trailed behind Izzy, wrapped up in his own thoughts. He'd just witnessed her freeze someone solid with her own hands, mind you by morning all of the ice would have melted away by morning and the man would be free to go. But why was she so ashamed to use them? He didn't know the answer but he intended to find out one way or another. And then there was her reaction to him standing by and watching the event.

_"Why didn't you help me?"_

Why hadn't he? Why did he simply stand by and watch when she'd rounded that corner and saw them? He didn't even know the answer to that.

He glanced up at her, well actually with his height he didn't really look UP at her it was more like he looked down at her. She'd stopped dead in the quiet alley and her shoulders slumped in defeat, she was looking across the street at am old crumbling building that didn't even look suitable for humans to live in let alone a god.

_Charming._

"You can stop being invisible now," she sighed and turned in his general direction.

For a moment he remained invisible and regarded her carefully before he finally materialised in front of her.

"What is upsetting you so much?" he asked "Is it about what happened with that mortal?"

She frowned at him and ran a hand through her hair. _Something she does a lot when she is stressed_ Loki noted

"Yes. Kinda, it's not the only thing."

He studied her, trying to figure out the best way to question her about the worries that plagued her thoughts without being on the receiving end of her powers.

"You want to know don't you?"

He blinked in surprise, how had she known that?

"Yes."

The corners of her lips curved upwards in a slim smile and she plonked herself on the ground.

"You cock your head when you're confused or curious about something," She explained.

Loki stiffened. He shouldn't be that easy to read, though she seemed to be the only one who noticed this little habit of his.

"So are you going to tell me?" he asked.

She sighed and tilted her head to look up at the now dark sky filled with small pinpricks of light.

"My mother and I don't get along well."

"Why?"

"She dumped me at my dad's house because she thought I was a freak," she whispered and pulled her legs up to her chest "Actually, I'm lucky she decided to dump me at my dad's instead of the street somewhere."

"Oh Izzy, I'm so sorry," Loki muttered

He pulled her into his arms where she began to shake whilst tears started to stream down her cheeks.

"She nearly gave me to him."

"To who?" Loki asked. He could feel anger boiling in his veins and the urge to hunt down and kill this 'him' in every way possible crashed over him.

"To the monster that made me like this."

Something inside of him of him snapped and a wave of murderous rage filled him, k_ill. Kill!_ His mind hissed but he reined his instinct in and turned his attention back to Izzy who was shivering violently in his arms. Gently he scooped her into his arms and crossed the street, his eyes completely focused on the run-down building she had pointed out.

* * *

Somewhere between getting from point A; the alley, and point B; her mother's apartment, she realised how childish she was being. She swiped at her tears, crying to Loki about something that had happened years ago wasn't going to make it any better or even change anything. Right now she had to focus on keeping Loki off of S.H.E.I.L.D's radar.

"Loki put me down please."

The god stopped and held onto her for a few more seconds; she could almost feel his reluctance to let go of her.

"I'm fine, really," she reassured him "Plus it'll be weird if you rock up on my mum's doorstep with me in your arms."

With a sigh he let her slide out of his arms and onto the pavement. Izzy rubbed her eyes and stretched; a small smile of relief spread across her lips when her back popped and cracked.

"Thanks for, y'know, listening before," she said awkwardly and punched his shoulder softly.

His eyebrow shot up at the odd gesture but he smiled before he jerked his head towards the door. Izzy took a steadying breath that turned into a gasp of surprise when Loki slid his hand into hers and squeezed, she squeezed back and pushed open the glass doors.

_What is that smell?_ Was Izzy's first though when they entered the dimly lit lobby. Her second thought, well more like realisation, was directed at the familiar yet aging woman with scraggly red hair sitting behind the receptionists' desk. _She was the receptionist when I still lived here, Ronda I think_, and she could vaguely remember that the woman was once fond of her as a child. Loki cleared this throat as they approached the desk and Ronda looked up from the magazine she was reading. _Oh god, Loki's armour!_ She thought and looked at him with alarm only to find that his golden and green Asgardian armour had been replaced with a black pair of slacks and a vest that covered a long-sleeved shirt that was a vivid emerald green. The green intensified his sea-green eyes and dark ebony hair; which made him look even more handsome.

"Can I help you?" Ronda asked idly.

"Er – yeah, could you tell us what room Tara Wilson is staying in?" Izzy asked.

The older woman looked at her with a mix of shock and alarm.

"I'm sorry my dear, but I'm not sure who –"

"It's Isabelle," she said flatly.

Ronda's hazel eyes widened and recognition flickered through them.

"Isabelle? Oh it's really you!"

Loki stiffened when the woman pulled her into a tight hug.

"Yup, it's me. And I can't breathe."

"Yes, right. I'm sorry," Ronda eyed Loki "Now who is this charming young man?"

"I'm a friend" he said silkily.

Ronda's eyes found their entwined hands and she 'humpfed' quietly to herself.

"You'll find that sorry excuse of a mother in the 6th room on the second floor."

Izzy nodded gratefully and began dragging Loki towards the stairs when Ronda's voice floated towards them.

"Don't be too surprised if you find some strange man slumped on her couch!"

_Righto_ she thought with a frown. Izzy had expected that with every step she took her nerves would become even more frazzled but it turned out to be the opposite and when her feet touched the landing of the second floor she felt . . . confident? No maybe it was more satisfied because she would be able to prove to her mother that she never needed her, that her father had taken her in and raised her to be the woman she was today.

"3, 4, 5, ah ha!" She cried and raised her hand to knock.

The sound bounced eerily down the empty corridor but the door remained firmly shut. _I know you're here mum._

She knocked again, harder this time, with the same result.

"Oh you've got to be kidding me."

Just as she uttered the words the door creaked open to reveal the face of a man who reeked of stale alcohol and tobacco. He wore a grey singlet that had so many stains Izzy doubted it had been washed in months. Loki wrapped his arm around her waist possessively when the strange man grinned at Izzy. She tried not to gag when his breath reached her nose.

"Well, ain't you a pretty lil thing?"

"We're looking for Miss Wilson. If you don't mind" Loki growled.

The man turned to him as if he only just realised Loki had been standing there and sneered.

"I DO mind actually. Now I'll take this lil treasure off ya hands for ya."

He'd barely reached for Izzy's arm when Loki grabbed him by the shirt and yanked him so close that their faces nearly touched, his teeth were bared which only added to the menace that was radiating from him. Izzy assumed that if looks could kill Loki would've killed the guy ten times in five seconds.

"I think you will refrain from trying to touch her again unless you want me to rip your heart out of your chest," Loki snarled "Now we are looking for Miss Wilson, will you so kindly go get her?"

The man whimpered and nodded rapidly.

"Good," Loki praised as the man scampered off into the apartment.

Izzy gave him a withering stare.

"What?" He asked innocently.

"Subtly, Loki. That's what we're going for."

He smirked adorably at her. "Says the girl who froze a man on the street."

She made a face at him and he leaned down to kiss her cheek, she turned her face slightly so his lips met hers instead and she felt him smile. Reluctantly Izzy pulled away from the God of Mischief's lips when she heard the tell-tale sound of incoming footsteps. It was then her mother decided to finally come and greet her visitors.

Tara Wilson hadn't changed much since her daughter had last seen her. Her eyes were still the same icy blue and her hair was still blond though it looked like she'd dyed it, along with gotten a really bad tan, in an attempt to make herself look younger. Izzy wasn't really surprised, from what Ronda had told her Tara had a different guy in her bed every second day and to do that you would have to look 'pretty', but Izzy suspected her mother mainly got sleazy guys who just wanted something to have fun with.

"Can I help you?" she asked, clearly annoyed at being interrupted.

_She has no idea who I am_ Izzy realised and shifted a little closer to Loki; she wasn't too sure if that was a good or a bad thing . . . But she was about to find out.

"You don't remember me."

It was more of a statement than a question but Tara just shook her head.

"I have no idea what you're talking about so if you don't mind! I'd –"

"Oh I do mind _mother_," she spat the word as if it were poison in her mouth.

Izzy watched her mother's face pale with a kind of twisted pleasure. She realised that she hated the woman, hated her for abandoning and shunning her. After everything this woman had done to her she deserved to feel afraid.

"Oh that's right! You don't have a daughter, only a monster," she hissed.

It was the steady pressure of Loki's hand squeezing her shoulder that brought her back to her senses. She blinked through the angry haze that has clouded her vision, her hands shook and she realised that they were starting to spark with fire.

"Why are you here?"

"Miss Wilson we are in need of your . . . aid," Loki said neutrally but Izzy could hear an undertone of malice in his voice.

Tara eyed Loki approvingly and Izzy stepped closer to the god when she saw the lust in her mother's eyes. Their eyes locked and Izzy didn't bother hiding her anger that burned like molten lava in her green eyes.

"Alright, you should probably come inside."

Loki nodded and gently placed his hand on the small of her back; guiding her into the apartment she once called home.


	7. Chapter 7

**Writers block has hit me with this chapter so I'm really sorry for its shortness and its possible crapness :L BUT I'm so happy you all liked the last chapter, honestly I didn't think it would get so much positive feedback!**

**Outlaw-Lanaya; It's not quite pushing her mother out a window but I think you'll enjoy Loki's little one on one encounter with her ;)  
immortalrmy; I'm so happy that you like the way I've written him :)  
StepiLady; I know, guys should take some notes from Loki xD And I'm glad you liked the line.  
makoblue93; Well the smirk is adorable! I tell it like it is :D  
KDHanson; I'm glad you like Izzy :3  
EMSmith; CLIFFHANGERS! :D I've been taking lessions in evil from our dearest God of Mischeif ;) Thank you, I wont let those few comments get me down . . . Its kinda hard to when I get such wonderful reviews from people like you! And yes, I like adding in fan girl moments x)  
Black Rose Kalli; I understand what you mean, I think I may have gotten carried away from all of the reviews . . . heh *Guilty laugh* I've tried to tone it down a bit in this chapter but I don't want to change it drastically in one chapter and have it confuse people (Did that make sense? xD)  
Annnnd to everyone who was demanding an update; HERE YOU GO! :D *Dramatic hand gestuers***

**Once again you guys are awesome and I love you for it! If I could I would send Loki to your homes with gifts . . . Pretend I did that! ;)  
Now, Loki says go forth and read!**

Chapter 7;

When Izzy and Loki stepped inside she wondered how on earth it was an apartment, in her opinion it looked more like a dump with the boxes of food, unwashed dished and dirty clothes laying around everywhere, she tried to cover up her laugh with a cough when she saw Loki's face; it was the perfect picture of disgust and terror. His eyes roved over everything and lingered distastefully on the couch where Mr McSleaze Bag was . . . sleeping? Well whatever he was doing it sounded like a grizzly bear in pain, she glanced at Loki again to see if he'd done some magic on the slob but the god looked just as confused as she was.

"So why do you need my help?" Her mother asked defensively.

"My friend here needs a place to stay that's inconspicuous."

Her mother's eyes narrowed to suspicious slits.

"I don't see why that brought you to me."

Izzy rolled her eyes, _if I told you that you could sleep with him you'd let us stay without a second thought._ And sadly it was probably true.

"This place is the most inconspicuous place I know of," Izzy elaborated "I'm in charge of protecting him and no one knows that you exist let alone knows where you live."

"So a place to stay? That's all you need?"

"It is all that we need" Loki confirmed.

Once again Tara eyed him, admiring the God of Mischief. _Damnit Loki! Be – Be ugly or something!_ Izzy's eyes flashed and she reached for Loki's hand, her mother was NOT getting her hands on him while Izzy was around. She turned her focus back to Loki and smiled a little too warmly at him and held out her hand.

"I'm Tara."

Loki observed her outstretched hand and for a moment Izzy could picture him conjuring up a bottle of Dettol hand sanitiser and spraying it all over her hand before he touched it, either that or he would wrap his hand with a cloth and then shake it. So when Loki just grabbed her hand Izzy was more than a little disappointed. The two then began to make idle conversation about silly little things like her new boyfriend Jo, aka Mr McSleaze Bag; she knew Loki was doing out of politeness and to keep Izzy out of the spotlight but she was fuming at her mum.

"I know where my old room is," Izzy interrupted and stalked off down the hallway.

She could hear the stunned silence behind her and smiled. Her hand was resting on the doorhandle to open it when a hand touched her shoulder and suddenly they were in the room. Izzy teetered slightly as dizzy spells attacked her once again.

"Loki," She moaned "Warn me next time you want to suddenly teleport a meter in front of you."

"Why?" he asked in a bemused way.

"So I can run away!"

She clutched her head in her hands while her legs wobbled dangerously.

"Hmmm? I think I'd still catch you even if you did that"

Once again she made a face at him. He laughed and took hold of her elbow to guide her towards her old, single sized bed . . .  
Loki eyed it and an odd look drifted across his face.

"I'll sleep on the floor," Izzy offered and stared at the bed.

"I don't really think that's necessary," he murmured.

Izzy's eyebrows shot up in astonishment and she slowly turned towards the god; from the sounds of it she was going to find out WHY he was the God of Mischief and somehow that made her feel giddy.

"What are you . . . insinuating Loki?"

"Well, you are quite petite so you can't take up THAT much room."

She was ashamed to admit that she was slightly, well maybe more than slightly, disappointed by his answer.

"You'll be surprised about that . . ."

It was his turn to raise an eyebrow.

"I'm quite the bed hog," She warned him with an evil grin.

"I'll shrink you."

Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped.

"You can DO that?" she asked excitedly.

Loki grinned and nodded.

"Oh my goodness, that's awesome!"

"Quite."

"Anyway, you distracted me," she scolded and earned a cheeky smirk from him "Back to the bed problem."

"Like I said, it won't be a problem."

"You and I are NOT sharing that bed, Laufeyson!" she said with finality. Although she didn't really agree with what she said.

"Why not?"

"It's too small." Was her ingenious response . . .

Loki rolled his eyes and turned her chin towards the bed.

"Watch," he purred in her ear.

She trembled and he waved his hand towards the bed. There was a shimmering flash of green and gold light and then Izzy's once single bed was now fit for two. She blinked, not believing her own eyes, and heard Loki chuckle.

"You mortals are impressed by the simplest things."

"That's not simple," she mumbled under her breath.

"See, the problem is solved," He said triumphantly.

"Yeahh," Suddenly she felt self-conscious and got the overwhelming need to have a shower "I – Uh – I'm going to have a shower"

She scrambled around her room, digging through the draws and cupboards, looking for any clothes that might somehow fit her. She cursed under her breath and glanced at over at Loki who was sitting on the edge of the bed and watching her with a highly amused expression. Her shoulders slumped and she glanced sheepishly at him.

"Do you think you could . . . Y'know, magic up some clothes for me?"

An evil grin crept over the gods face.

"What do I get in return?"

Izzy crossed her arms over her chest and glared at Loki, trying her best to intimidate him, but she only succeeded in making him laugh.

"I'll refrain from freezing you in your sleep," she promised.

"As tempting as that sounds it wouldn't affect me if you tried."

Izzy shot him a confused look.

"Of course it would affect you, you would freeze."

His eyes glittered knowingly and he smirked. The whole look screamed 'I know something that you don't and if you want to know it'll cost you.'  
Completely forgetting about her need for a shower she made her way over to him and sat down, a curiously eager expression plastered over her face.

"I'm a Frost Giant," he told her and looked away as if he expected her to leap away in panic.

"Soo you're immune to stuff like my ice attacks?"

He turned and looked at her, his eyes widening slightly with disbelief. She grinned at him and pushed his shoulder playfully.

"Loki, you being a Frost Giant doesn't scare me."

"You don't know what a Frost Giant is," he said flatly.

"Well, that's not entirely true; I have a pretty good idea what it would be!"

He glanced at her from the corner of his eye and sighed, gently he brushed away a few stray hairs from her face.

"You are so naïve Izzy."

"Good. If I wasn't I wouldn't believe in things like you so easily, if I wasn't I would've given up on my life years ago."

Loki regarded her with what Izzy could only describe as appreciation. He was still watching her with a faint smile when he wriggled his fingers; making a pair of jeans, a white hoddie, a black and grey stripped top and one pair of purple Vans appear on the bed in front of her. She looked blankly at them for a few moments before she finally realised they were HER clothes, the ones that should be sitting on top of her drawers back at Stark Towers. She grinned at him, grabbed the clothes and hurried out of the room towards the shower.

* * *

Once Izzy had left the room Loki stood stiffly and roamed around the room, his hand hovered over everything from books, to scrap pieces of paper, ready to swipe at anything that caught his eye. He stopped at a small desk in the corner of the room and picked up a small stuffed animal with a little note attached to its neck with a piece of string.

_Mr Cuddles; My best friend in the whooole world!  
__He's going to look after you for me while you're gone.  
__From Matty :)_

"I see you found that silly stuffed toy."

Loki twisted around to see Tara's small frame standing in the doorway, a bundle of sheets clutched in her hands, a slightly confused look drifted across her face when she noticed the now resized be. Annoyance surged through him.

"I don't see how it's silly."

"It's a toy and she's nearly a grown woman. For her to want it is stupid," Tara sighed and placed the sheets down before she sat on the bed.

Loki gently placed the toy down and glared at the wall.

"Maybe she wants to hold onto her only nice childhood memory," He hissed poisonously.

Tara's tinkling laugh filled the room and Loki stiffened, his green eyes flashed a deep blood red as his anger started to boil inside of him. _Kill, kill her!  
_He waved his hand and suddenly the lights flicked off. A feral smile crawled over his lips when he felt his armour replace the mortal clothes he wore, his golden horned helmet materialised on his head and his staff appeared in his outstretched hand. He teleported next to the woman and grabbed her by the throat and squeezed.

"I wouldn't scream if I were you," He warned.

She whimpered and her eyes widen in fear. Oh the delicious fear, it had been so long since he'd been the cause of it!

"You've given dear Izzy so much trouble," he mumbled and admired the way light shimmered across the staff's blade-like tip. _Kill her!_

"You pretty much ruined her life," He tilted his head and skewered the trembling woman with a scowl "I don't like it when the people I care about get hurt."

He smiled and thrust the tip of the staff into her gut. A gagging noise escaped from her lips and all the colour left in her face drained away, her hands reached down and clutched the staff as she let out a ragged breath, the pain in her eyes was appealing to him.  
He listened intently for the sound of running water . . . he still had time.

"What do you want with me?" Tara moaned.

"I want you to suffer like Izzy did!" Loki snarled "You see I would kill you right now if I could Miss Wilson. But your fate isn't in my hands; it's in your daughters."

He tensed and ripped the staff out of her body. Tara's eyes bulged in pain and he laughed darkly before he waved his hand once more, stopping the blood and making the wound knit itself back together. He leaned in close and hissed in her ear.

"You get to live for another night. But I swear if you do anything to hurt her again I will see to it that you die in the most painfully slow way possible."

The sound of running water stopped; Loki had run out of time.

"Now get out! And do not speak of this to anyone."

* * *

It hadn't been the best shower of her life but it had left her clean so she couldn't really complain. And with the use of her powers what had been a freezing jet of water was changed to a warm, steamy spray. She left her hair damp; mostly because she couldn't be bother wasting any more energy on using her powers, and opened the bathroom door only to run smack-bang into her mother who didn't even stop to look at her. And instead of being the caring daughter who asked what was wrong she merely greeted her with a bored;

"You ran outta hot water."

Slowly her tired brain processed everything she'd just seen . . ._ That's odd, even for her. Wait a sec; she came from my room . . . Shit!  
_Izzy sped down the hall and crashed into her room, expecting it be on fire or something from the way her mother had looked, only to find Loki lounging around on a freshly made bed. Her eyes scanned the room and came to rest on a slightly out of place Mr Cuddles, _oh please no! Please tell me Loki didn't see it!_

"Whatcha been up to?" she asked as casually as possible.

"I saw it."

Izzy grimaced and felt her cheeks burn.

"May I ask who this Matty is?"

She sighed and looked at him. He cocked his head and watched her intently in response but she caught the slightest glimmer of distrust glint in those cunning eyes.

"He was a kid I met on the streets when I lived here, before I found out what I was. I was chasing a stray cat down the alleys when I ran into him."

He was still watching her but his face looked as if it had been whipped clean of any and all emotions. _That's not good._

"He was trying to be like his brother who was, well a pretty bad influence," she said carefully "I mean, you know what little brothers are like! Always trying to be like the older one . . ."

She trailed off at the annoyed look that passed over his expression and gaped in horror when she realised what she said.

"But – uh – not that you were anything like that with Thor! I mean who would want to try and be like him?" she desperately tried to amend "That's just us silly mortals, always being stupid by looking up to our siblings."

She winced at his unimpressed expression.

"Anyway, um, he tried to I guess intimidate me but it didn't work, I teased him whenever we saw each other, he didn't want me to leave . . . Long story short we became friends and yeah." She finished quickly.

Even when she was done telling her story his eyes never moved from her face. A chill fingered its way up her spine and she turned towards her desk, picking up Mr Cuddles and placed him carefully back in his place. All the while she could feel Loki's eyes boring into the spot between her shoulder blades.  
She decided to ignore him and stroll over to the bed and crawled over to the side that wasn't taken up by Loki's outstretched body. She sat down and crossed her legs, watching the bed bounce from the sudden weight.

"So, what else can you do?" she asked, steering the subject away from her.

Loki gave her a funny look at the sudden subject change and she grinned.

"Powers, Loki. I'm asking about your powers."

"Ah. Well the ones you have seen are what you would class as 'powers'."

"What about the things I haven't seen?" she asked, curiosity getting the better of her.

"Well there's my wit, charm, brains and my silver tongue," he said with his trademark smirk.

"Sliver tongue," she murmured to herself, tasting the words and letting them roll off of her own tongue "I like that, looks like you have a new nickname."

"Izzy, I need you to do something for me."

She turned her gaze back to him "Okay, shoot."

He raised his arms and locked his hands behind his head as if her were completely at home.

"I need your help to break into StarkTowers."


	8. Chapter 8

**Izzy isn't having a very good day in this chapter. It isn't the most 'happy chapter I've writen but it's kind of essential for the whole Loki and Izzy romance thing . . . You'll see why in the next few chapters!  
****The idea for this chapter actually came to me at work in the middle of my puppy training class and that worries me cause this chapter is, well, kinda dark (I guess thats how you describe it? XD)**

**Again big thanks to Black Rose Kalli and EMSmith for mentioning those minor but serious errors :) I updated the chapter so they should be fixed! *Gives epic high 5 of awesomeness*  
EMSmith; There's gonna be more cliffhangers ;) But please don't let them be the death of you! I'll miss you and your reviews D:  
SummerRuby; Why thank you, and I shall try my best :)  
Fira Jones; Hahaha I'm glad you find that funny :D  
Outlan-Lanaya; I thought you might like it x)  
makoblue93; I know I'm amazing . . . I kid :D I'm glad I'm not disappointing you!  
DIVIDED-LEGION; jdfiuhfwih! You, you like my story? *Jaw drops* Holy Jebus I'm so glad you liked it! I'm in love with your Bad Company story :3  
StepiLady; Thats the point! She's meant to be the horrible mother that makes people dislike her xD  
**

**I'm sorry to say that updates are going to be a wee bit late this week because I have block-exams at school and then I have work and I've got my art assignments for Tafe to finish so I won't have as much time to write this week D: Sowwy guys  
Anyway thanks again for being amazing *Group huuuug* Heres the next chapter :)**

Chapter 8;

Loki waited for her response and he glanced at her from the corner of his eye, a hint of worry tugged at his heart. Izzy sat there, staring blankly at him and blinking at him for a moment before the impact of his words finally sunk in, her eye twitched and then she was doubling over with laughter. Loki sat up with alarm at her odd reaction.

"Izzy?"

Breathless and clutching at her side from laughing to much her green eyes flickered up to him and she dissolved into a fit of laughter once more.

"That's. A funny. Joke," she managed to choke out in between bubbles of snickers that escaped her upturned lips.

"I assure you I am not joking," Loki said seriously.

"Loki, you can't just 'break into' Stark Towers," she said. Her smile faded when she finally realise the seriousness of the situation.

"It's not just a matter of picking a lock or magically teleporting in there. The whole place is under 24/7 video surveillance, there are that many security measures in place I can't even begin to tell you them all and then there's Jarvis!" she cried.

The rational side of Loki that had begun to care for Izzy wanted to tell her to forget it, that he didn't want to put her in any danger. But his other half, the side that craved revenge and control over this world, silenced it instantly.

"I gathered that. And it's for those reasons I'm asking for your help, it is your home after all"

"Your point being?"

"My point being, it will be much simpler to get into the tower with you," Loki hissed, he was starting to lose his self-control.

"It won't make it any simpler Loki," she snapped "It's not just a matter of me walking in and everything will be fine and dandy because I'm Tony Stark's daughter! I'm probably a wanted fugitive BECAUSE I decided to follow and help you, StarkTowers is MY HOME. A place they will EXPECT me to go to!"

The two glared at each other and the room darkened, Loki noted that shadows surrounding Izzy trembled as well as what looked like inky black tendrils curled and whipped around her clenched hands.

"Why do you need to break into Stark Towers anyway?" she asked coldly.

"I need a place to start my world domination, plus it has a power source that I need to use the Tesseract," He smiled cruelly at her.

He watched her eyes narrow.

"I'm not going to help you take over the world!"

"I didn't expect you to."

"Then why bother asking me to help you?" she demanded.

Her voice hitched and tears welled in her eyes; whether they were from frustration or actual hurt he did not know.

"Because there was a part of me that hoped you would," Loki whispered "I won't forget all the help you've given me Isabelle."

Loki's throat tightened when she finally realised what he was saying. Her eyes widened and her mouth formed the perfect O shape.

"N – No!" She cried and reached for him as Loki began to melt away "Don't leave, Loki!"

The God of Mischief clamped his eyes shut as he teleported away. He knew he wouldn't soon forget the abandoned look she'd given him or her heartbroken plea for him to stay

* * *

_No, no, no. He's coming back! He's your friend and he cares about you, he's coming back! You'll see!  
_Izzy stood, rooted to the spot, for at least two hours waiting for Loki to come back. She had sunk to her knees and was still there when the sun began to rise over the rooftops. How had she managed to lose yet another friend? _Did you really think he would stay? You were just a pawn that he was using; he didn't care about you _her mind hissed as she numbly stood and walked out of her room; she needed someone to hold her and tell her everything was going to be okay, she needed her dad or even Pepper. . . Pepper!

She spotted her mother's purse on the kitchen counter and swiped a few dollars from it before she ran out of the apartment and onto the quiet street. Her eyes quickly pinpointed a payphone and she bolted over to it, fumbling with the numbers as she typed them in.

"Hello, this is Pepper Potts speaking,"

Izzy nearly cried in relief when Peppers tired yet familiar voice resounded through the speaker.

"P – Pepper?"

"Izzy? Izzy is that you?" she cried, suddenly sounding wide awake "Oh my gosh where are you?"

"Down the road from my mum's apartment," was all she managed to choke out. Thankfully Pepper knew where she was talking about.

"I'll be there with Happy soon," she promised and hung up.

She nodded to the now dead line and sat down against a brick wall beside her; she brought her knees to her chest and groaned. What the hell had she gotten herself into?

Izzy was in the midst of, literally, banging her head against a wall when a sleek black Chrysler pulled up and an ecstatic Pepper and concerned Happy Hogan leapt out of the car towards her.

"Izzy!" Pepper exclaimed and pulled her into a hug "We've been so worried about you."

Izzy merely whined and rested her head against Pepper's small shoulder. She pulled away and held Izzy at arm's length, looking for any signs that told Pepper that she was hurt. Happy with what she saw she smoothed down Izzy's hair and smiled warmly.

"Let's get you home."

Happy held out his hand and Izzy gratefully took it as he led her towards the back door of the car. Once everyone was in and they were safely moving along the road Pepper dialled Tony's number and put him on loud speaker for everyone to hear.

"Hey Pep, what's happening?"

"I have some good news."

"I tend to worry when you say that you have good news," Tony muttered.

"Trust me, you'll like this news. It's about Izzy."

Silence.

"Tony?" Pepper asked.

"Y – yeah I'm here," His voice rang out but there was a hint of apprehension in it.

"We've found her."

The next few moments were filled with Tony stringing a fair few swear words together in a massive show of relief before he told them he would see them soon and hung up. Pepper smiled happily but Izzy couldn't even manage to twitch her lips upwards; Tony may have been excited that Izzy was back but she was sure as hell S.H.E.I.L.D wouldn't be and they weren't about to let her get away with it.

_oooo_

Izzy was curled up in a ball on one of the expensive leather couches, located in front of one of Stark Tower's massive flat screen TVs, with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders and an untouched cup of hot chocolate clutched in her hands.

'_Miss Stark is there something bothering you?'_ The slightly British voice of JARVIS asked as he continued to flick through the TV channels for her.

Izzy placed the cup of hot chocolate down and rubbed her temples, a painfully large headache had sprung up and attacked her the minute she had walked in the door. _That's what you get when you try to introduce a brick wall to your head!_ She reminded herself.

"I don't wanna talk about it Jarv," she mumbled

'_As you wish and Miss Stark I would like to inform you that your father is about to land._'

She craned her neck to look over her shoulder and out of the window. Sure enough she spotted her father, dressed in his red and gold Ironman suit, landing on the balcony; he sped inside, not even bothering to take of his suit, and stopped when he spotted her on the couch.  
His helmet slid away from his face and he grinned at her. That was the only thing she needed to make her jump off the couch and into her dads arms.

"Don't you ever do that to me again, do you understand?" He grumbled into her hair.

A laugh bubbled up her throat and she hugged him tighter. Then she spotted the others.

Nick Fury and the rest of the Avengers had finished descending from a jet and where now watching Izzy, ready for any attack. Her arms fell to her sides, her eyes darted from her dad to the group and she backed away wailing softly.

"Izzy." Her dad said soothingly and took a step towards her. She flinched and scampered towards the doors that lead to the stairs.

"JARVIS." Her dad called and suddenly all of her exits were blocked.

She whirled around to her dad who now had Nick Fury by his side.

"No, no, please no," she begged when Fury produced a needle from his sleeve and motioned for Stark to grab his daughter.

Memories of her childhood flashed before her eyes; the man in the overcoat, the needle injecting toxins into her heart and the unbearable pain. Izzy screamed and tried to doge but Ironman's arms wrapped around her waist and she was pulled tightly against te cold metal plating of his chest.

"Let me go!" She yelled.

Just as she called on her powers Tony strapped something to her wrist and suddenly she couldn't reach them. Her eyes widened with pure fear and she began to thrash and squirm, calling out for any of the other Avengers to help her.  
Tears streamed down her cheeks and sobs racked her body as Fury got close enough to press the needle into the skin of her forearm.

"I'm so sorry Iz," Stark whispered as her vision went fuzzy and she blacked out.

_oooo_

Cold, hard metal pressed against her cheek was all Izzy felt when she finally opened her eyes to the white-walled cell she was locked in. The spot where the needle had pierced her skin ached painfully but it was nothing compared to the ache of betrayal that was attacking her heart. With a grimace she rolled onto her back and observed her surroundings; there was absolutely nothing in the cell with her, not even a bed! Squeezing her eyes shut she tried to focus on her powers and felt nothing, she opened one eye and peeked at her wrists and sure enough the band her father had placed on it was still there and it was also accompanied by its twin on her other wrist.

Oh yes, she was right when she'd told Loki that she was classed as a fugitive, but this? This was how Izzy expected people like Loki to be treated.

_What if you're like Loki?_ Her mind whispered.

She shook her head and pushed the thought to the side. Loki was the reason why she was locked up like some criminal _why? Why didn't you listen to dad when he told you NOT to go see Loki again?_

She sighed and groggily stood up, listening out for any voices as she walked over to the odd force field that stood between her and freedom. She assumed it served as a replacement for the old iron bars that usually kept prisoners captive in cells and, being the complete genius that she isn't, she reached out and touched the field. At first nothing happened and she smiled triumphantly until she heard the distinct hum of electricity.

_Ah crap_ she thought when the bolt of raw power hit her. She cried out and slumped to the floor, struggling to keep her eyes open and to stay sitting up, she vaguely registering the sound of approaching footsteps.

_oooo_

Once again her eyes flickered open to find her cheek resting on the floor of her cell, _that's really losing its novelty_ she thought bitterly.

She tried to move her hand and it didn't respond _oh that's just bloody wonderful!_ Looks like the electricity had done more than knock her unconscious, it had left her completely immobilised. The hairs on the back of her neck prickled and she stiffened when somebody crouched beside her, just out of her line of sight. A feral snarl tore its way out of her throat when the strangers hand reached for her, she was happy to see the hand flinch from her body.

"Don't. Touch. Me."

"Izzy I'm trying to help," Captain America's voice soothed as he came into view.

She flashed back to the Stark Tower where she had begged for the rest of the Avengers to help her but had only gotten empty glares in return. Desperately she tried to move her muscles but they wouldn't respond.

"I don't fucking care what you're trying to do!" She yelled. Steve looked utterly shocked at her outburst and language; she'll admit that she even surprised herself a bit.

"Izzy pl –"

"Don't. Don't even apologise because I know you don't mean it, if you did you would've helped me when I was begging for it back at the tower!" she snapped "Now leave me alone before I get movement back in my arms and slap you senseless."

Without another word he left the room, leaving Izzy to her own conflicting thoughts. She wanted to hate the Avengers for what they'd done to her but deep down she just . . . couldn't! And she wanted Loki, to see him again or even to hear him would be enough and finally her dad; she didn't want to but she couldn't help but hate him for bring like her mother and betraying her.

* * *

Steve finally found Tony hidden away in Mr. Banner's laboratory. He was staring at what looked like a piece of glass with a multitude of pictures and who else knows what on it.

"How's she doing?" he asked emotionlessly.

Stark had pretty much shut himself out from the world since Izzy had been captured and taken away. Once everyone had gotten on the Helicarrier Izzy was brought out for everyone to see, she looked so pale that Steve had thought her to be dead but was told otherwise when she'd been strapped down to a steel table and shown off to the other S.H.I.E.L.D agents as if she were some kind of sick hunting trophy. The poor guy had a breakdown the moment he was out of sight and earshot, in fact Thor had to physically hold Stark back or else he would've gone after Fury and done god knows what.

"Um, well she's awake."

"She's mad?"

"That would be a grave understatement," Steve muttered.

Stark groaned and hung his head before reaching up to rub his eyes "She's never going to trust me once this is over."

"I'm sure it's not that bad."

He glanced at Steve with complete and utter hopelessness.

"You don't know what they did to her as kid."

* * *

Izzy crouched in front of the force field and glared at it with frustration _how the hell do you work?_ She wondered for about the fifth time while she looked for some kind of locking mechanism or anything that would be slightly useful.

"C'mon door. If you be nice to me I promise I'll be gentle when I have to break you," She whispered.

Her ears pricked at the chuckles that came from her only company, her inmates in other cells. She frowned and then realised what she'd said out loud. . . _yay, I'm talking to doors now!_

"Oh shut up you guys!" she snapped at the other prisoners.

They laughed more and she ground her teeth together. Although she could bring herself to be completely angry at them, in other circumstances Izzy was sure that she would laugh too if she hear someone talking to a door, plus they were her only company; in other words the only thing that was currently keeping her sane was talking to them. Once again she wished she could see her fellow badies, though she didn't consider herself bad, purely so her damned curiosity would stop bugging her while she was trying to work! _You suck brain, you suck!_

Huffing to herself she reached up and winced when she yanked three strands of hair from her scalp. Gently she pinched one in between her fingers and held it as close as she dared to the force field then she blew on it. She watched and held her breath as the strand only just kissed the surface and fizzled slightly.

_Hmm that's interesting_ she mused; so small things like hair don't get zapped but big things like me do. A million scenarios of how she could get out of here ran through her head but for most of them she needed her powers.

She sighed and rested her head back against the wall to her left and began to daydream about him. Of all people she could daydream about her brain chose Loki. Loki! Seriously there is an unprecedented amount of hot movie stars and singer she could easily think about but instead she chose bloody Loki. _Brain . . . I worry about you sometimes._ She thought and closed her eyes.

_oooo_

_Food!  
_That was the thought that broke Izzy out of her stupor. Her nose twitched and her mouth watered at the delectable smell that was wafting down the corridor towards her, she could hear her inmates moaning for a taste. She clutched her stomach as it growled loudly, making her realise that she hadn't eaten for a few days and how hungry she really was because of that.

"Well, well what's this? You all want some food?" Nick Fury's voice boomed.

She pressed her face as close to the field as she possibly could without touching it, sadly some of her fellow prisoners weren't that smart and got zapped, she could just see S.H.I.E.L.D's director strolling down the hall with a platter of roasted chicken and vegetables in his hands. When he got to Izzy's cell he stopped and glared icily at her, a glare that she returned just as coldly.

"You should be thankful you even get your small scraps," as he spoke a plate with bread and a glass of water way pushed out of the floor "You traitors don't deserve any of this."

_Oh! So I'm a traitor now? You didn't say that when Clint Barton came crawling back to you._ She thought, when rumour had spread about the once Loki controlled agent being accepted back into S.H.I.E.L.D with welcome arms she had been more than a little pissed. Needless to say that when the man himself had come to pay her a visit there had been a lot of swearing, punching the walls for a good hour and general tantrum throwing to let her anger out afterwards.

"Prove I'm a traitor," She challenged him with a smirk "Prove that I wasn't like Barton. Prove that I supposedly compromised you on my own free will."

* * *

**P.S. It's 11:30 at night over where I am so excuse and minor mistakes, I'm going to go over this in the morning before I go help my Uncle move houses, and by help I mean hang out with my cousin while my dad helps like he offered (Aren't I lovely? :3)**


	9. Chapter 9

**I'm back! *Happy Dance* Do you guys have any idea how happy I feel about saying that?**

**First off I am SOOOOOOOO sorry about the wait, all my exams and my job and such just took its toll on me. Seriously when I wasn't in school or Tafe doing exams the whole day I was at work and if I wasn't at work I was ususally studying and then going to bed! I feel like school is a semi-trailer and its run over me about five times and left me there . . . :L**

**Secondly if you've beared with me and are still reading and waiting for the next chapter I LOVE YOU! *Epic internet hugs* And todays your lucky day! **

**And thirdly, I haven't had a lot of sleep so please excuse any errors in this chapter.**

**Now I've noticed there is now a cover feature thingy for stories . . . Sooo if any of you guys (Or your friends) are, y'know, arty! You could make a cover and send it to me and I'll make it the cover for my story! Plus, I'd just adore seeing your perspective on Izzy :3  
And one last thing! I started a Mistborn fanfiction, kind of thing for a writing compitition so let me know if you're interested in seeing that little chapter and I'll upload it and maybe even continue from it :D**

**Anyyywhooooo! I won't mention people in here today, I'll do that next chapter. But other than that I hope you enjoy this chapter**

Chapter 9;

Loki stared out at the hazy Manhattan skyline from the top floor of Stark Towers. Just like Izzy said it hadn't been easy getting into the tower it was quite the opposite actually, but he'd done it nonetheless. He allowed his mind to think of Izzy and frowned, it had been three days since he'd left her and during that time he felt something had happened to her. During their time spent together at her mother's house Loki had been able to subtly establish a connection in her mind so that, if he ever needed to, he could contact her. Closing his eyes he tentatively reached out to her mind with his own and mentally recoiled when he was hit by a wall of sheer anger. Curiously he pushed through the emotion and tried to access her memories in an attempt to understand what had made her so irritated.

"Sir?"

Loki's eyes slid open and he turned to Dr. Selvig.

"What is it?" he asked and didn't bother to hide his annoyance.

"The machine and the Tesseract, they are ready to open the portal."

"Good. We will begin tomorrow."

Selvig nodded and hurried back inside while Loki turned back towards the city, focusing and channelling his energy on Izzy. He touched her mind and blinked a few times until he was seeing everything through her eyes.

Loki was utterly shocked when he noticed where they were.

They were in a completely bare cell that looked out into and equally bare hallway and Izzy's gaze was flicking between a spot on the floor and the transparent blue substance covering the doorway. She placed her hands on the floor, leaving about thirty centimetres between them, and tensed as if she was a wild cat about to pounce on her prey.

_By the nine realms, what is she doing?_

A siren blared out in the hall and Izzy grinned as a small rectangle opened between her hands and a plate with a few pieces of bread on it was pushed out. Loki watched her hand lash out and stop it from closing while her other hand reached into it, her eyes locked onto a small handful of wires, and yanked it back out. There was the distinct sound of machinery failing and her eyes brushed hopefully over to the door, Loki could feel her disappointment when she saw that the odd wall was still there.

"Well something is better than nothing," she sighed and scanned the walls in search for the thing she'd broken.

She reached up and rubbed her eyes before she picked up the bundle of wires she'd pulled free. It was then Loki noticed the metal bracelets that were strapped to her wrists, he scowled at the all too familiar devices that Nick had tried to put on him when he had been captured. Dr. Selvig had explained to him that S.H.I.E.L.D used them because the bracelets were designed to absorb a person's special abilities, therefor rendering them powerless until they were removed from the person. Luckily for Loki the infernal devices didn't affect his godly powers and they were removed, he wished he could say the same for Izzy.

Gently he withdrew from her mind and returned to his own surroundings. Tonight he would visit Izzy in her dreams to do his best to try and help her and maybe get her to side with him.

* * *

"Where on earth did you get that from?"

Izzy glanced up to see Steve, who'd finally arrived for his daily visit, all dressed in his Captain America outfit eyeing the wires she was clutching in her hands from the other side of the field.

"Why does it matter?"

She tried her best to keep her tone neutral when Steve was talking to her; after all he was the only one of the Avengers who came to visit her purely so she could have some company.

"It doesn't," he said and walked through the field without a hair on his pretty blond head being touched. "How are you today?"

Izzy gazed at the key card that hung at his waist; everyone who had come to see her wore one and she assumed that one of those would be her ticket out of this damned cell.

"The same as yesterday and the day before that; absolutely horrible. But that's the whole aim of me being locked in here," she growled softly.

Steve sat down beside her and watched her fingers fiddle around with the different coloured wires, this time she didn't try to bite his arm off when he reached over and placed a comforting hand on her arm.

"I'm sorry you're locked in here Izzy," He muttered.

She sighed and rested her head on his broad shoulder as a small smile tugged at the corners of her mouth; she still had a friend. "At least someone is."

"Your dad is too."

"You're just saying that to make me feel better," Steve opened his mouth to argue but she cut him off. "If he really was sorry about it why hasn't he told me or even come to see me about it?"

Steve stayed silent and looked at his hands.

"What about you?" she asked to change the subject.

"Fine I guess," his voice trailed off in concern when he saw Izzy rubbing the bands on her wrists which were turning the skin around them a painful red "Are they hurting you?"

Izzy jumped guiltily and crossed her arms to hide the damage done to her skin. "What? Oh no, they're – um – itchy!"

Steve frowned at her and an idea sparked in her head; if she could get Steve to take them off somehow she could try and break out of here the next time food came around!

"Well, yeah they're actually getting really tight," she said truthfully. It was getting to the point where she had started to worry about the blood circulation to her hands.

He lightly picked up one of her hands and examined it, grimacing slightly at the raw red skin he saw. A look of pure concentration crossed his face; she tried not to smile when she pictured that she could almost see clogs turning in his skull.

"I'll see what I can do about them," he promised and stood, "I'll be back later or tomorrow."

She nodded and watched the super soldier walk back out of the room. If he did visit her she was going to get that key card somehow, with or without these stupid bands on her arms she would escape. But right now she needed to get some sleep; sitting around doing almost nothing was actually starting to take its toll on her.

* * *

Night had fallen and he was on the rooftop of the tower admiring Dr. Selvig's machine that he'd built for the Tesseract so Loki could open a portal that would summon his Chitauri army to take over Earth. Loki had just crouched down to examine where the precious Tesseract would sit when her voice began calling him like it had whenever she thought about him;

_Loki, Loki! Where are you?_

He pressed a hand to his head and tried to shut it out, _later Izzy, you will see me later._ But already his mind was starting to drift and reach for hers, to see her and be as close to her as he could.

_Stop it! She is just a girl and nothing more. Focus on the task at hand!_ He told himself.

"Sir, you don't look to well," Selvig told him and stepped forwards.

Loki slowly turned and glared at the man who raised his hands and backed off a little.

"Thank you doctor, I think I'm going to go lay down."

The wind made his black, leather armour whip and lash around him as he stood and walked towards the stairs, he wouldn't admit to anyone but he was itching to see her again and that's what bothered him the most; never in his lifetime had he felt that way towards a female

_What is so special about her? More importantly why are you letting her distract you so much?_

He groaned and flopped onto a bed, his nose detected the faint but familiar smell of chocolate, cinnamon and honey mingling together and he realised where he was; Izzy's room.

Without thinking he turned towards the pillow under his head and inhaled the scent longingly, memorising the exact smell and the sweetness it left on his tongue, before he quickly composed himself. Curious he stood and let his eyes roam around the spacious room; the wall above her bed was filled with bunches of photos that showed her favoured memories, bolted to one wall and locked with some sort of complicated system was a rack filled with various knives, daggers and what looked like some kind of armour, two bookshelves, overflowing with books, took up another wall while a desk filled with paper sat next to a wardrobe that occupied the last wall. It definitely wasn't going to be hard to concentrate on her while he was in her room.

He calmly seated himself on her bed and closed his piercing green eyes while reached out for her mind. He found it quickly and this time she didn't resist when he touched her thoughts which meant that there was either something terribly wrong or she was just sleeping; he hopped it was the second.

He blinked his eyes open as the scene around him began to change and dissolve into a dark, foggy abyss. Everywhere he turned there was blackness, mist curled around him, she was here somewhere he could feel it. So he waited, he called to her just like she called to him, in the end she would come and she would find him. This was her dream after all; she could do whatever she wanted to lure him to her.

Loki didn't have to wait long until she finally appeared.

His keen eyes spotted her the moment she materialised out of the fog that clouded their vision; she looked around in utter confusion as if she wondered why she was even looking for something and he smiled, a streaking flash of white in the darkness.

"My, oh my, you look a little lost my dear."

Izzy froze and spun around in a vain search for the source of his voice, he chuckled softly and teleported right behind her, waiting patiently for her attention.

"Odd," she muttered and turned towards him. A high pitched shriek echoed around them and she clutched at her heart. "LOKI!"

He grinned "Yes?"

"Screw you."

"Charming," he said sarcastically and wrinkled his nose.

But he glanced at her as a sudden desire flickered in his heart; part of him was sorely tempted to grab her and take her up on that . . . offer. With a shake of his head he banished the thought; he would NOT do that to Izzy.

"Whoa, you look so accurate in my dreams. I didn't think my brain could conjure up such a convincing version of you," She murmured and circled him admiringly, occasionally prodding him with her finger, "Seriously it's like the real Loki is standing in front of me!"

"That would be because I am."

"Uh huh," she muttered.

She worked her way back to his front and stretched up on the tips of her toes, trying to match his height and gently placing her hands on either side of his face and pulling it closer to hers. Loki stiffened at the gentle touch but his eyes roved over her lips as they parted slightly in surprise and another twinge of desire rocked his body.

"You're eyes look so freaking amazing!" she approved before she shot a look towards the general direction of non-existent sky, "I'm impressed brain."

"I'm not a figment of your imagination Izzy," He told her.

"Oh of course you aren't," she said sceptically.

Loki frowned at her in frustration. How was he supposed to prove that he wasn't just some fabrication of her own mind? He would need to do something she wouldn't expect, something to surprise her.

He thought about their conversation at her mother's, the one where he had told her that he was a Frost Giant, and an idea sparked in his head.

Loki opened his arms slightly and closed his eyes in concentration. He smiled when the familiar sensation of ice water washing over him crept over his entire body like icy finger tips. When he opened his eyes and looked down he was happy to see that his arms were no longer his pale, olive tone but an arctic blue colour and he knew his eyes were no longer his usual vivid sea-green but a bloody red. Izzy backed away a few steps with her eyes wide and her jaw slack, whether it was out of fear or awe he couldn't tell.

"Do you still think I'm a mere hallucination?" He asked with a raised brow.

Still too stunned to talk she just shook her head vigorously from side to side so quickly that Loki actually feared it would come off if she didn't stop soon.

"Are you going to say anything?" He asked again as he felt his magic warm his skin to hide his true identity.

"If you're the real Loki how are you here?" She squeaked.

"That's quite simple, it's a mind link. I'm not physically with you, only mentally."

He knew he'd lost Izzy the moment he mentioned the words 'mind link' by the way her face clouded over and her eyes sparkled with confusion.

"Alrighty then. So – um – why are you here?"

"I was worried about you," He said defensively, _shouldn't it be obvious as to why I'm here?_

"If you were so worried why did you leave me in the first place?" She asked so quietly he had to strain his ears to hear the words.

"I left you for your own safety," He explained "If you didn't help me it wasn't going to look good to SHEILD if I stayed."

Izzy folded her arms over her chest and laughed bitterly. "Yeah, even with you gone, running away with you didn't look good to SHEILD."

She sighed and dropped heavily to the ground, burying her head in her hands. Loki's heart constricted as her crouched next to her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Where are you?" He whispered.

"Trapped in a jail cell," she mumbled into her hands.

Loki resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "I know that, where is the cell?"

"I don't know, probably on the Helicarrier somewhere," She looked up him with a frown "Why?"

Loki shrugged casually and smirked "Just thinking of breaking you out that's all."

"Oh, no you won't, you'll get caught again. I'll break out myself thank you very much," Izzy snapped stubbornly but Loki smiled when he detected the undertone of concern in her voice.

"And what, exactly, will you do to stop me?" He asked with a smirk.

"I-I'll . . ." She blinked and fixed him with a hard stare as she crossed her arms "Dammit Loki! Just don't please, I don't want you to get captured again."

Loki looked at her with a sad sigh and touched her cheek tenderly, "Isabelle Stark, you will be the death of me one day."

A small smile pulled at his lips when she leant into his hand and nuzzled it softly, "I hope you're wrong about that."

He clenched his teeth as she started to become unfocused; their little mind connection was starting to slip. With a sudden jerk of his wrist he grabbed Izzy's face in his hands and brought it close to his, he squeezed his eyes shut in a weak attempt to fight against the overwhelming urge to kiss her.

"Listen to me. I still have some spies hidden within SHEILD; I'll send them to 'guard' you. They will wait a few minutes before they enter the cell," He opened his eyes and looked into her slightly stunned face, "Once in they will take those bands off and place very loose ones back on so you can easily slide them off when needed. They will then escort you somewhere secluded so you can 'overcome' them and escape."

Izzy, wide-eyed with surprise, nodded vigorously.

"The most time to I can give you before the alarm is sounded is an hour. Whether you get out of there quietly before then or stop and cause trouble on the way is up to you. Do you understand?"

"I-Um yeah I guess . . ."

"Good, be careful." He pulled her face to his and kissed her hurriedly before pressing a hand to her head. He watched her eyes roll up into her head before the connection finally broke and he found himself back in the Stark Tower, sitting on her bed and surrounded by her smell.


End file.
